SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Blakeley State Park has scheduled its first walk-on boat tour of the Tensaw-Mobile River Delta for Saturday, Jan. 31 in response to inquiries from visiting snowbirds and forecasts of warming weather.

The narrated boat tour leaves Blakeley Park’s Tensaw River dock at 1:30 p.m. and returns at 3:30 p.m. The Delta Explorer is a U.S. Coast Guard licensed 50-passenger covered pontoon boat with restroom. It is powered by twin 125 hp engines and piloted by a U.S. Coast Guard licensed pilot.

Walk-on tours are on a first come-first serve basis but passengers can purchase tickets and make reservations in advance using credit cards by calling 251-626-5581. Cost is $22 for adults, $12 for children 6-12 and 4-6 free. The Delta Explorer is also available for charter by groups on dates and at times of their convenience.  For more information call 251-626-0798.

Saturday walk-ons scheduled for the winter and early spring are Jan. 31, Feb.14, Feb. 28, March 14 and March 28. Departure time during these months is 1:30 p.m. Later in hot summer weather the walk-on tours are run in the mornings.

Special boat excursions scheduled for the first quarter are tours of the Alabama State Docks and a St. Patrick’s Day outing with a stop on the Mobile Bay Causeway for a seafood buffet.

Feb. 18 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. is the date for the tour of the wildlife of the Delta, site of the Amtrak train wreck at Bayou Canot, site of the sinking of the Clotilde, last slave ship in America and the water tour of the Docks and the Port of Mobile before returning to the park. Cost of that tour is $30/15.

St. Patrick’s Day March 17 will be celebrated with a wildlife tour leaving the park at 10 a.m., stop at the Blue Gill Restaurant on the Mobile Bay Causeway for a seafood buffet at 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and return to the Blakeley Park dock at 1 p.m. Cost of the outing is $22/12 for boat tickets and $12.95 for the buffet including soft drink plus tax and tip.

Blakeley Park will be scheduling additional walk-ons and special tours for April through June within a few weeks.

Blakeley State Park is a 2,000-acre historic and nature park located on Alabama Highway 225 about 4.5 miles north of its intersection with U.S. 31 at Spanish Fort. Cost of boat tickets includes admission to the park and a full day’s visit that often includes picnic lunches, walking and other individual outdoor activities by visitors.

The park also offers RV camping with pull-throughs and full hookups and tent camping for overnight visitors.

For more information go to www.blakeleypark.com, call 251-626-0798 or e-mail to blakeleypark@aol.com.