July is Florida Recreation and Parks Month, and what better way to celebrate than to visit your local state park? It’s summer, so if you’re going to hike, get there when the gates open at 8 AM, or pick a park where paddling and swimming is a part of the fun too, like Lafayette Blue Springs State Park or Wekiwa Springs State Park.
On Sunday July 13, admission to all state parks is free. Get out there and enjoy your Florida treasures!
A committee collecting community petitions for construction of a multi-use trail dubbed the Panama City Crayfish Trail pitched the Lynn Haven commission on the concept, according to the Panama City News Herald. A five-mile stretch of old railbed from the fuel depot east is what they’re eyeing for a new trail.
Living as I do in an urbanized setting where our local government has public connector trails of this nature in the comp plan but no plans on the ground, I’m glad to see grassroots efforts like this to work with local government to provide a benefit to residents and visitors alike. I suggest the fine folks in Panama City and Lynn Haven take a look at their neighbor to the north, Blountstown, for an excellent example of how a trail can bring a community together.
Just found a new blogger to add to my blogroll: Buford Pruitt, a fellow Marion County resident, writing about hiking, kayaking, birdwatching and all things outdoorsy on his Florida Nature Adventures blog. Give him a look! Today’s post is about walking through the dry marshes of Orange Lake. With a serious sinkhole in its bottom, Orange Lake tends to drain out pretty quickly in times of drought like we have now.
New! The University of Florida has opened up public access to its 60-acre Natural Area Teaching Laboratory (NATL) in the heart of Gainesville, right behind the Museum of Natural History and Performing Arts Center on Hull Drive. Open dawn to dusk, this set of interpretive trails totals about 1.5 miles in four trails, inclding a 500 foot boardwalk. I just picked up the info on it, and will head down there soon to check them out. Meanwhile, here’s a link to the map and details about the trails.
Me and the gals at work slipped into the new park in Micanopy to see what it’s all about. It’s a community park, and town hall says construction is complete and it will open soon. There are Native American burial mounds on site, a small museum, and what looks to be at least one loop trail through the forest, no indication of length. I’ll be watching and waiting with my GPS to be one of the first on it!
Since my PO Box is in Micanopy, I drive through there frequently. I was surprised to see a brand-new trailhead, not yet opened, on the main road between downtown and US 441 south, for the “Micanopy Native American Heritage Preserve.” A grant was provided by the state in 2005 to build an interpretive trail and museum at this site, which I believe will commemorate the settlement so well documented by William Bartram in his Travels, published in 1791. I can’t find any mention online of when the park and trail will open, but I’ll do a little asking around and find out!
I was staying in Wakulla County last week while attending meetings in Tallahassee, and I took advantage of the time shift by enjoying some rambling about in the late afternoons. I stopped at the Wakulla County Visitor Center, along US 98 across from the historic springs in Panacea (or, more easy to see from the road, Posey’s Up the Creek) to check out the exhibits. And I saw a hiker sign that said “Nature Trail.” Being the curious sort, I asked the gals inside the center where the trail led. “Oh, I went down there and saw a ‘gator on the trail, so I turned around.” said one lady. “It’s pretty snakey looking.”
I couldn’t resist. Indeed, the trail follows the estuarine fringe along Dickerson Bay, in the shade of tall slash pines and shorter white cedars and wax myrtle. It’s rather short, maybe a 1/4 mile at my pace, and dumps you out onto the salt flats that sweep around the edge of Panacea. Fiddler crabs scuttled, and a symphony of birds kept up their trilling calls. It was a nice juxtaposition to sitting in a meeting room. The trail doesn’t have any name, but if you need a tiny jolt of the Big Bend to get you going, it might just have your name on it.
July is Florida Recreation and Parks Month, and what better way to celebrate than to visit your local state park? It’s summer, so if you’re going to hike, get there when the gates open at 8 AM, or pick a park where paddling and swimming is a part of the fun too, like Lafayette Blue Springs State Park or Wekiwa Springs State Park.
A committee collecting community petitions for construction of a multi-use trail dubbed the Panama City Crayfish Trail pitched the Lynn Haven commission on the concept, 
I was staying in Wakulla County last week while attending meetings in Tallahassee, and I took advantage of the time shift by enjoying some rambling about in the late afternoons. I stopped at the Wakulla County Visitor Center, along US 98 across from the historic springs in Panacea (or, more easy to see from the road, Posey’s Up the Creek) to check out the exhibits. And I saw a hiker sign that said “Nature Trail.” Being the curious sort, I asked the gals inside the center where the trail led. “Oh, I went down there and saw a ‘gator on the trail, so I turned around.” said one lady. “It’s pretty snakey looking.”