Orlando Wetlands Park (OWP) is a man-mad wetland designed to treat reclaimed water and provide a wildlife habitat. The park is in Christmas FL. OWP has nineteen miles of berm built to create eighteen wetland cells. The wetland system provides habitat for over two hundred bird species, otters, foxes, deer, turtles, snakes, and alligators.
Looking south from Granada Blvd bridge towards Daytona Beach and beyond to Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket that placed 51 Starlink satellites and Spaceflight’s Sherpa-LTC into orbit.
Little Talbot Island is one of a handful of undeveloped barrier islands remaining in Northeast Florida. Boasting more than 5 miles of pristine beaches and 3 miles of bike trails, Little Talbot offers untouched natural beauty and diverse ecosystems. There is, of course, the white sand and rolling surf typical of many high energy coasts. But there is also the eroding sun-bleached roots and fallen trunks of cedar and palm that create a linear tapestry of natural sculptures.
Fort George Island Cultural State Park – A site of human occupation for over 5,000 years, Fort George Island was named for a 1736 fort built to defend the southern flank of Georgia when it was a colony. The park includes the Riabault Club (a private club for well to do Northerns visiting in winters), St. George Episcopal Church, Kingsley Plantation and slave quarters and ruins of a Tabby constructed house.
The 150-acre Hickory Bluff Preserve overlooks the St. Johns River and contains many natural communities including mesic and scrubby flatwoods, oak hammock, cypress domes, floodplain swamp, and wet prairie.
Etoniah Creek State Forest contains 8,902 acres of various natural communities. Etoniah Creek State Forest is named after Etoniah Creek, a stream that travels 2.5 miles through the eastern portion of the forest.
Ravine Gardens State Park is one of the nine New Deal-era state parks in Florida. The park has two ravines up to 120 feet deep with steep banks at 45-degree angles. Unlike common gullies, trenches or sinkholes caused by temporary flooding, the steephead ravines are a permanent feature with a spring-fed creek that never dries up, called Whitewater Branch. The underground water bubbling up cuts into the bank and carries the sand and soil downstream to the St. Johns River. Over thousands of years, the ravines have widened and deepened to what you see today. The 2.5-mile Azalea Trail winds through the ravine systems of Ravine Gardens State Park
Shell Bluff Park is in the Andalusia community just east of the Putnam County line. This 60-acre park features fishing, a floating dock, playground, hiking trail, picnic pavilions, restrooms, and a boat launching facility on Crescent Lake.
Carl Duval Moore State Forest is one of the smallest state forests (336 acres) but still maintains a variety of ecosystems, including sandhill, mesic flatwoods, wet flatwoods, and flatwoods lake. The park has two main hiking trails — (1) Up and Down Lake — the hiking trail is 1.2 miles in length and has interpretive tree identification signs along the route. (2) Hardesty Lake — hike down a 1.5-mile trail through a multitude of ecosystem types that range from sandhill to basin swamp.
There are more than fifteen different natural biological communities in Jennings State Forest, including sandhill, slope forest, flatwoods, seepage slope, dome swamp, blackwater stream and seepage stream. Fire is needed to maintain many of these communities. The Florida Forest Service uses prescribed fire to maintain habitat for the forest’s unique plants and animals.
The Fire and Water Nature Trail is an informative 1.7-mile trail that will give insight into how fire and water affect the various forest communities. The Dunn’s Farm Trail is a 2.7-mile trail that offers a variety of ecosystems – ravines cut by springs, so called waterfalls (Duck Pond Falls) and a cemetery — for the Dunn and Padgett Families.
Ralph E. Simmons Memorial State Forest offers views St. Mary’s River (if you have a machete to get near it), which forms the northern boundary of the forest and serves as the forest’s primary water source. The 1.5-mile red trail gets you close to the river. I started on the 1.75-mile yellow trail (a spider habitat) in the early morning fog which was eerie on a trail that hadn’t been hiked in a long time.
Cary State Forest was established as Florida’s second state forest in 1937. Cary is known for its scenic mature flatwoods, sandhill and basin marsh. The 1.25-mile Nature Trail at Cary State Forest winds and twists through scenic flatwoods and cypress swamp and includes a boardwalk that takes hikers across the wetlands.
Hot weather – who cares – these walks in the woods provided a little diversion and exercise.
Hawes Creek Preserve – not my first time here but the 1.3-mile boardwalk and trail hike usually provide a good variety of birds to view. Not today – too hot for them.
Lake Disston – stopped at a shady spot to view the lake, an old boat house and pier.
Welaka State Forest – Mud Springs trail (1.75 miles) and John’s Landing trail (4.0 miles)
Rice Creek Conservation Area – 5.3-mile loop trail near Palatka
This is a short compendium of some photos taken in February and March at several Florida sites. Looking forward to more adventures in April and May including a trip to Callaway Gardens and a cruise through the Panama Canal to SFO. Please follow the links to better enjoy what is available at each location.
Bulow Creek State Park: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/bulow-creek-state-park
Ponce Lighthouse: https://www.ponceinlet.org/
St. Augustine Lighthouse: https://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/
Betty Steflik Memorial Preserve: https://floridahikes.com/betty-steflik-preserve
Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive: https://www.sjrwmd.com/lands/recreation/lake-apopka/
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art: https://www.morsemuseum.org/
We took two half days to hike the linear 13.6-mile Bulow Woods Trail. The trail connects the south edge of Bulow Plantation Ruins State Park with the parking area at the Fairchild Oak in Bulow Creek State Park. The highlight of Bulow Creek is one of the largest remaining stands of southern live oak forest along Florida’s east coast.
The reigning tree is the Fairchild Oak, one of the largest live oak trees in the South. For more than 400 years it has been a silent witness to human activities along Bulow Creek, including the destruction of the neighboring Bulow Plantation (detailed in a post several years ago) during the Second Seminole War in 1836. Bulow Creek protects nearly 5,600 acres, more than 1,500 of which are submerged lands which makes the trail swampy in spots.
Boardman Pond is a highlight along the trail as a habitat for several bird species.
Prior to starting our hike, we stopped to see the remains of the Dummett Mill Ruins one of eleven known plantation sites located in the park. Most produced rice, cotton, sugar cane and indigo – Dummett specialized in rum.
A little behind in posting. The following are highlights of several hiking trips and wildlife refuges that we visited.
Betty Steflik Memorial Preserve
Not the first time here but always a pleasant walk along a boardwalk along the intercoastal in Flagler Beach. https://www.visitflagler.com/listing/betty-steflik-memorial-preserve/270242/
6 Mile Slough Preserve
3400 acres of wetlands near Ft Meyers that runs about 11 miles and only a third of a mile wide – with several boardwalk loops. http://www.sloughpreserve.org
Lafayette Reservoir
An easy 2.5+ mile path around the reservoir – a fun morning with the grand kids. http://www.ebmud.com/recreation/east-bay/lafayette-reservoir/
Silver Springs Forest Conservation Area
The tract includes 378 acres of wetlands along two creeks. The property provides a buffer where forests capture rainwater to recharge the aquifer and augment the flow of nearby Silver Springs. www.sjrwmd.com/lands/recreation/silver-springs/
J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge
The J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge is located on the subtropical barrier island of Sanibel in the Gulf of Mexico. The refuge is part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the United States. It is world famous for its spectacular migratory bird populations. http://www.fws.gov/refuge/JN_Ding_Darling/
The Harry P. Leu Gardens are semi-tropical and tropical gardens in Orlando, Florida. The gardens contain nearly 50 acres of landscaped grounds and lakes, with meandering trails shaded by 200-year-old oaks and forests of camellias. The address is 1920 North Forest Avenue Orlando, FL 32803. The Leu Gardens were started by Mr. and Mrs. Harry P. Leu, who in 1936 purchased Leu House and forty acres of land. The Leus traveled all over the world and brought back many exotic plants and many varieties (240) of camellias for their gardens. In 1961, the Leus deeded the house and the gardens to the city of Orlando. At the heart of the Gardens is Harry and Mary Jane Leu’s home, known as the Leu House Museum, which has been meticulously restored and is on the National Historical Register.
We were able to visit during the Gardens special exhibit called the Fairy Doors. This amazing exhibit has become a Central Florida tradition. This exhibit features twenty, one-of-a-kind, whimsical fairy doors which will inspire your child’s imaginative world of enchanted forests, secret gardens and the magic of fairies. Each door is created by a special fairy and all you must do is find these beautiful doors located throughout the 50-acre gardens.
We had a couple of hotel room certificates that were expiring so we decided on a quick golf and dining getaway to Fernandina Beach Fl. Fernandina Beach is the northernmost city on Florida’s Atlantic coast, situated on Amelia Island. The area was first inhabited by the Timucuan Indian people. We played golf at Amelia National Golf & Country Club (a sister course to ours) and Amelia River Golf Club. Excellent dinners at Le Clos and Cucina South. Evening walks through downtown Fernandina enjoying the architecture and marina. A day trip to Fort Clinch located at the entrance to the Cumberland Sound and the St Mary’s River. The fort was started in 1794 and was modified and maned in the Civil War, Spanish American War and the Second World War. On our way back home, we stopped at Little Talbot Island SP to view the driftwood configurations lining the beach. We were able to do a short beach walk before the sky’s opened up – will definitely be back to compete our beach walk here and on Big Talbot Island SP.
Travelling Photographer 