Here’s what the Juniper Prairie Wilderness looked like prior to the fire. The loss of this beautiful area is heartbreaking. I was fortunate to visit in February on a hike on the Florida Trail with my friends Bob & Bonnie Coveney. We witnessed a lot of damage from the 2006 blaze, more than I expected. Little did we expect what was to come.
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The latest report estimates the damage at more than 10, 022 acres between Juniper Springs and Pat’s Island. It will be at least another 20 years before the oak trees come back to a size to provide any shade for campers … so many were already lost in the 2006 blaze and so few were left. The pines will sprout more quickly, of course, since the Big Scrub is a fire-dependent habitat.
Here’s the latest article from the Orlando Sentinel regards the fire.
Great Ocala National Forest photos! Would you please tell me where you started, where you stopped, and approximately how long it took, including stops? I realize that it would probably be completely different now (after the recent fires), but I would like to kind of match up your photos with where you went, plus go out there and compare things now.
Thanks. Jim Buckner
On that particular hike, I started at the Hopkins Prairie Trailhead and ended at the cutoff at the end of the Wilderness Area to walk down to my car parked at Juniper Springs (turn left at the big sign). But the photos only cover from FR 10 south to the southern boundary sign. Can’t speak to the exact time it took as we spent a LOT of time watching the otters and hanging out at Hidden Pond. I believe we started around 10 AM and ended by 3 PM or so. Hope that helps! If you take new photos, please leave a link here to them.