SPANISH FORT, Ala.— Seating is still available aboard the Blakeley State Park 50-passenger boat, Delta Explorer, for the Dec. 7 tour deep into the center of the Tensaw-Mobile River Delta to pre-historic Indian mounds at Bottle Creek reachable only by boat.

Staff members of the University of South Alabama Center for Archaeological studies will conduct the tour of the Bottle Creek Indian Mounds reached by the Blakeley Park boat leaving from Lower Bryant Landing off Highway 225 near Stockton north of I-65.

Blakeley Park scheduled the Dec. 6 tour at the request of the public when requests for the Oct. 19 tour far exceeded the passenger limit.

“We are grateful to Dr. Greg Waselkov, director of the center,  and his staff for volunteering to make this second trip this fall,” said Jo Ann Flirt, park director. The USA archaeologists will conduct the land tour.

The three-hour tour, which features some hiking of the mound area, leaves Lower Bryant at 9:30 a.m. Usually the Delta Explorer leaves from and returns to the Blakeley Park dock on the Tensaw River. When making a trip to the Indian mounds, the boat leaves Lower Bryant as a convenience to passengers saving them from the long run up the river and back.

Because of the hiking involved and the long trip, passengers on the Indian mound trip are limited to children age 10 and older and to adults physically able to hike from the area where the boat docks up to the mound areas. Walking shoes, binoculars to view wildlife, and windbreakers are recommended.

Tickets for the Bottle Creek Indian Mound tour are $30 for adults and $15 for children between 10 and 12.  For paid reservations call 626-5581. For information on charter tours in the Blakeley area for 25 adults or more, call 251-626-0798.

Historic Blakeley State Park is located on Highway 225 about 4.5 miles north of its intersection with U.S. 31 at Spanish Fort. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to dusk. A modern RV campground with full hookups and a primitive tent campground are now open featuring on-site 24-hour a day park staffing.

For more general information go to www.blakeleypark.com or e-mail blakeleypark@aol.com.