The Florida Trail by Region

Length: 71 miles (linear) from Big Shoals State Park to Winquepin St.

This is the only segment of the Florida Trail which runs almost continuously beside a major river. The terrain varies from hardwood hammocks, high sandhills, and limestone rock bluffs to swamps and flat dirt roads.  The trail crosses many small streams, up and down steep ravines, and several swamps.  At times of high water these sections can be very wet or unpassable.  This section of trail is managed by the Suwannee River Water Management District, Stephen Foster State Park, Suwannee River State Park, and Twin Rivers State Forest.

The Suwannee River has tannin rich tea-colored water, stained by cypress trees and oak leaves. It is fed by springs, which are seen as clear blue water where they enter the river. Striking white sand beaches occur on river bends, providing perfect places to camp or swim.

Along the trail, you’ll see clusters of huge cypress and oak trees in the middle of primitive swamps. White lilies, wild azalea, sparkleberries, dogwood and redbud grow along the path, as do giant tupelo trees. At the western end, there is an abundance of spruce pine growing around rugged surface limestone punctuated by sinkholes. Many types of animals including otter, beaver and water birds may be seen. In the fall, a muted color change in the leaves is a reminder of autumn’s touch. Devil’s Mountain, a picturesque bluff over 130 feet above the water, is named after the Devil’s walking stick, a strange barbed shrub which grows there.

This section of trail is especially notable for its rugged terrain and geologic features. Take the blue-blazed side trail to Disappearing Creek to watch a creek swallowed whole by a sinkhole; pause and look out over a whirlpool in the river; watch the water tumble down the rock hillside at the Mill Creek waterfall; walk along the edge of Holton Spring.  The Holton Creek Tract is home to the second largest bald cypress tree in the world as well as the world’s tallest live oak tree.  For more information contact the Suwannee Chapter and the Sandhill Chapter of the FTA.

Once the trail leaves Suwanee River State Park it enters the Twin Rivers State Forest.  They lands here are owned by the Suwannee River Water Management District. It is managed by two state agencies; Florida Division of Forestry (primary) and the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (hunting).

There are four primitive campsites along the trail. Two are within the Ellaville Unit, and the Black and Mill Creek North Units each have one.  Other points of interest along the trail include the Big Oak Trail, a loop trail on the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers, the Stroud Family Cemetery, and the Drew Mansion Ruins. To reach this historic site and picnic area, follow the blue-blazed trail just south of the railroad tracks close to old US 90 (0.5 mile round trip). It was at this point that historians believe Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto crossed the Suwannee River in September 1539 on his quest to the Mississippi River. The picnic area is also the site of the Drew Mansion Ruins, once the plantation home of Governor Drew during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. A blue blazed interpretive trail leads you around the historic site. From the picnic area, the Big Oak Trail leads east across the river into the main part of the park.

To the west of CR 53, the Florida Trail follows forest roads owned and managed by private timber companies. This is a spirited effort of the companies in cooperation with the Florida Trail Association. Hikers have the opportunity to witness ongoing commercial forestry activities. The companies also lease out the hunting rights to their lands.  For more information contact the Suwannee Chapter.

Length: 24.2 miles (linear) from the Olustee Battlefield to Cow Catcher Rd.

The Osceola National Forest is Florida’s smallest national forest, but it encompasses prime habitat for the Florida black bear and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, which thrives only in old-growth longleaf pine forests. Established in the 1930s, it remains a patchwork of inaccessible swamps, pine plantations, and natural forests of longleaf pine.

Start your hike at Florida’s most significant Civil War historic site, the Olustee Battlefield. From here, the first mile of trail – dubbed the Nice Wander Trail – provides a surface suitable for the disabled to enjoy the outdoors, passing through a red-cockaded woodpecker colony. Then it’s into the forests, miles and miles of immersion in the pines broken up by boardwalks over bayheads and along seepage slopes where hooded pitcher plants thrive. Old forest roads are utilized in some places to connect segments of footpath. Watch blazing carefully. An open-sided shelter provides a peaceful campsite for backpackers. Expect a lot of wading after a heavy rain, as the footpath tends to collect water.

Leaving the protection of the Osceola National Forest, the Florida Trail becomes a short roadwalk on quiet back roads as it makes its way to the Suwannee River at Big Shoals State Park. Once along the Suwannee, you’ll enjoy the heavy shade of the hardwood hammocks as the trail traverses extremely rugged terrain, dropping in and out of many deep ravines along the river bluffs. Stream crossings range from walking across planks and logs to hopping over narrows. Marvel at the beauty of Big Shoals and Little Shoals, Florida’s roughest whitewater.

After passing under US 41, the trail continues into White Springs, a historic and popular trail town and resupply stop and our first Florida Trail Gateway Community. If you are doing a long distance hike, stop in at American Canoe Adventures on Bridge Street to get your photo taken for the thru-hiker wall! For more information contact the North Florida Trailblazers.

Length: 23 miles (linear) from the City of Lake Butler to Olustee Battlefield

The section is along rural roads through the small city of Lake Butler and within the Lake Butler Forest which is operated as a tree farm by Weyerhaeuser. Although the great majority of the forest is planted pines, a few hardwood areas remain.

At any given time, a large part of the trail will pass through or along the edge of clear-cuts. Between new seedling planting and their maturation, these areas are typified by high grasses and panoramic vistas. Sightings of deer and turkey are fairly common. The trail from the Lake Butler Forest connects to the Osceola Experimental Forest before making its way into the Osceola National Forest. Pay close attention to turns, and carry a map with road numbers, as the trail follows several different roads.

If you are hiking through Olustee or on Osceola National Forest trails during the middle of February, be on the lookout for enemy scouts, infantry, and artillery! You may detect the characteristic odor of gunpowder if the wind is right. The annual reenactment of the Civil War Battle of Olustee fought near Ocean Pond on February 20, 1864 occurs near the Battlefield Museum on US 90, east of the town of Olustee. Everyone is invited, but don’t wear a Civil War cap unless you are ready to do combat with the other side! For more information contact the North Florida Trailblazers.

Length: 35.9 (linear) from SR 21 to City of Lake Butler

The trail through Camp Blanding takes you through undulating sandhill terrain, with some spectacular scenic views from the hilltops. If it’s a clear day, the distant rumble is not thunder, but bombing exercises. You’ll walk through the hilly sandhill terrain, with its forests of longleaf pine and turkey oak, densely forested areas with different kinds of hardwood trees and shrubs, and pine plantations in various growth stages. Scattered patches of scrub habitat, with brilliant white sand and plants that can survive extreme heat and dryness, introduce you to Florida’s “desert.” Wildlife includes pocket gophers, gray foxes, and squirrels. In the pine woods along the trail, look for “catfaces” (the scars on pine trees left by the turpentine industry) and for red-clay turpentine pots which look like flower pots. Pause and enjoy a cool breeze at the many lakes along the way including a beautiful circumnavigation of Magnolia Lake.  The trail passes through the historic, and now defunct, Magnolia Lake State Park.  A troubling reminder of the past, the State Park was one of Florida’s segregated state parks from 1957 until the late 1970s.

After leaving Camp Blanding the trail stays on the Palatka Lake Butler State Trail which is a multi-use rail trail.  It is both paved and unpaved and heads towards the city of Keystone, a great place to resupply.  The rail trail officially ends in Lake Butler.

NOTICE
For more information contact the North Florida Trailblazers

Length: 34.3 miles (linear) from SR 20 to SR 21

Continuing through the rolling sandhills of Florida’s Central Highlands, the Florida Trail traverses longleaf pine forests (some natural, most planted for harvesting) owned by timber companies. Dropping down along Rice Creek, the trail follows a floodplain where ancient cypresses stand sentinel over the remains of a Revolutionary War-era indigo and rice plantation. Using unpaved roads to connect protected sections, the trail swings west into Etoniah Creek State Forest, where it parallels a ravine more than forty feet deep.

Watch for the trees of Appalachia to make their first appearance along this segment—tulip poplars, dogwoods, and sassafras, as well as fragrant azaleas in spring. West of the ravine, you encounter a pleasant camping shelter at Iron Bridge, and look down from another bluff across a winding creek before working your way through dense oak forests to reach the Holloway Road trailhead. To minimize your impact to the feeder streams and marshes through this area, here are many bridges and boardwalks, and they can become slippery when wet.

A road walk presently connects the Tinsley Road trailhead at Etoniah Creek State Forest with the south gate of Gold Head Branch State Park. Inside the park, enjoy more than three miles of scenic hiking. After you pass through the cabins and picnic area along Little Lake Johnson, the trail follows Gold Head Branch upstream along the shady ravine, and emerges in a sandhill area to circle around the eerie Devil’s Washbasin before exiting the park. For more information contact the North Florida Trailblazers.

Length: 50.7 miles (linear) from SR 40 to SR 20

The northern part of the Ocala National Forest nurtures upland habitats of rolling sandhills topped with longleaf pines and oaks. Wiregrass thrives, carpeting the forest floor in a misty haze that turns to lilac in winter.  These forests are relatively open, an important habitat for wildlife like deer, fox squirrels, and red-cockaded woodpeckers. There are also extensive stands of shortleaf or sand pine along the trail. Look for scrub jays in this habitat. Wildlife common to both habitats are eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, indigo snakes, corn snakes, armadillos, raccoon, deer, gopher tortoises, and black bears. Observe, enjoy, and respect all wildlife, leaving them as you found them.

Surface water is found only in scattered flatwoods ponds. As you approach Rodman Reservoir and the Ocklawaha River floodplain, the trail passes through floodplain forests, and may be knee-deep in water if the rivers are high. The footpath is well maintained and well worn, and signage at road crossings helps you figure out exactly where you are. Although there are a number of designated campsites along this segment, you may camp anywhere you wish—as long as it’s not hunting season. Be aware of when hunting seasons occur, and make sure you wear blaze orange.

At the extreme northern end the trail reaches Rodman Reservoir and follows the Cross Florida Greenway through Rodman Campground along the banks of the Cross Florida Barge Canal.  Look for manatees swimming in the canal!  This section of trail is maintained by the Black Bear Chapter.

Length: 28.2 (linear) from Clearwater Lake to SR 40

Welcome to the Ocala National Forest, the heart and soul of the Florida Trail. In October 1966, Florida Trail Association founder Jim Kern and a handful of hardy hikers painted the trail’s first blaze at the beginning of this segment at Clearwater Lake. Offering a week’s worth of unbroken wilderness hiking through sandhills, prairies, pine flatwoods, and the beautiful Big Scrub, this is the prime destination for backpackers who want to spend a week out on the Florida Trail. The footpath is well maintained and well worn, and signage at road crossings helps you figure out exactly where you are.

Although there are a number of designated campsites, you may camp anywhere you wish—as long as it’s not hunting season. The Ocala National Forest draws a lot of deer and turkey hunters, so be cognizant of hunting season, when you must stay at designated campsites. Always wear blaze orange during hunting season. This segment of the trail offers numerous don’t-miss stops, from the swimming holes at Alexander and Juniper Springs to to stunning prairies at Farles and Hopkins. You’ll walk through hydric hammocks crowded with palms, through open prairies filled with wildflowers, and through the wild and wonderful Juniper Prairie Wilderness with its many pristine ponds. The north end of this segment is at Hopkins Prairie, a vast open wetland which the trail winds along for miles (occasionally in the shade) of the oak forest on its shoreline.

A side trip on the blue-blazed trail to beautiful, crystal clear Alexander Springs (78 million gallons per day) is highly recommended for those who would like to stop for a snack or swim in the cool spring water. Portions of the forest near Alexander Springs, Billies Bay and Juniper Prairie are designated wilderness areas. Trail work in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness must be done with hand tools only and FTA workers use two-person crosscut saws to remove blown down trees on this section of the trail. Juniper Springs is also good for swimming, and the Juniper Springs Run is a great short canoe trip. Canoe rental and canoe shuttle service are available at the park concession. This section of trail is maintained by the Black Bear Chapter north of Hwy 40 and Highlanders Chapter South of Hwy 40

Length: 32.2 miles (linear) from Baseline Trailhead to The 88 Store

East of the Baseline Trailhead, the FT the trail changes dramatically as you enter Marshall Swamp, following a crunchy gravel footpath through this jungle-like hydric hammock floodplain of the Silver River.  This short section of trail is loaded with enormous trees.  Emerging at the Marshall Swamp trailhead, the trail enters the southeastern corner of Silver Springs State Park then follows a connecting roadwalk north on CR 314, crossing an old drawbridge over the Ocklawaha River at historic Sharpes Ferry.

After the road walk on CR 314 the trail enters the Ocala National Forest for the first time on the Western Corridor.  The next 20 miles of trail travel through a mixture of hardwood hammock, pine flatwoods, sandhill, and swamp.  The junction of the east and west corridors is just south of CR 316 right behind the famous 88 Store and Pub, a popular destination for thru hikers.

Length: 40.6 miles (linear) from Inverness to Baseline Trailhead

In this segment, the Florida Trail follows a roadwalk through the historic town of Dunnellon (founded during the 1890 phosphate boom) before enjoying the protection of the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, a broad strip of public space more than a century in the making. Numerous developed trailheads make access a breeze for day hiking and longer trips.

From the Pruitt Trailhead, the FT heads in a northeasterly direction, paralleling the north side of the canal route. You’ll face some rugged walking, including a major switchback and several minor ones, as the trail winds along forested mounds of dirt left behind from the canal diggings. There are several opportunities for scenic views across the remains of the canal, both before and after the SR 200 crossing.

Length: 31.4  miles (linear) from Inverness to Willow St. plus 40.6 mile loop

The Citrus Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest is the smallest of the tracts on this forest, but certainly just as beautiful.  For backpackers and day hikers, the four loop trails (A, B, C, and D) in the Citrus Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest are not presently part of the thru-trail but offer some of the finest challenging terrain in Central Florida. The trail climbs up and down rolling sandhills topped with pines and oaks, drops down into deep ravines created by erosion of the limestone bedrock, circles massive sinkholes, where jagged limestone protrudes into the footpath, and passes by the fern-draped openings of numerous caves. Wildlife is abundant: deer sightings are virtually guaranteed, scrub-jays live in the sand pine scrub, and Florida panthers have been spotted here. The sandhills are high and dry, so plan backpacking trips carefully; you may want to cache water at trail crossings. Designated campsites let you get away from it all.

From Inverness the trail heads south through Whispering Pines Park into the State Forest  until reaching the road walk at County Road 480.  An eight mile road walk leads into the FWC managed Chinsegut Environmental Education Center, Colonel Robins Tract of the WSF, and Perry Oldenberg Wildlife and Environmental Area before making its way towards the Croom Tract of the WSF.  Chinsegut is a great place to enjoy a loop hike and birdwatching from the numerous observation decks on the property.

Length: 20.1 miles (linear) from Willow St. to Ridge Manor plus 20.1 mile loop

Leaving the Richloam Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest, the trail continues to its westernmost point (less than 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico) en route to the Croom Tract. Plans are in the works to build a connecting trail between Blue Sink (at the northwestern most point of the Richloam Loop) and the Croom Tract. Meanwhile, hikers must connect the two natural areas via a roadwalk. The Croom Hiking Trail is a gem along the route, anchored by two beautiful developed campsites on either end as it winds through hardwood and floodplain forests along the Withlacoochee River.

After you complete the Croom Hiking Trail, it’s back to a connecting roadwalk to reach the Withlacoochee State Trail, a rail trail that serves as the FT’s temporary route to the north. Backpackers and day hikers have the option of accessing the Croom Loops (A, B, and C) from the Silver Lake Trailhead or the Withlacoochee State Trail off Croom-Rital Road. These loop trails are described by some hikers as “fitting exercise to get in shape for the Appalachian Trail,” as they ascend and descend rolling sandhills topped with pines and oaks. When the river is in its floodplain, don’t miss a 3.5 mile loop day hike by taking the access trail from Silver Lake Recreation Area to the blue-blazed low water trail; it passes through spectacular stands of old-growth cypress trees. Use the orange-blazed high water trail to create a loop back to the trailhead.

Length: 33.8 miles (linear)