Fort Drum Marsh

Marsh at the headwaters of the St. Johns

Zipping along SR 60 between Florida’s Turnpike and Vero Beach, you just don’t think about hiking. Orange groves, perhaps, or prairies or swamps. Cypresses, maybe. But hikes? It wasn’t until I was “on assignment” for 50 Hikes in Central Florida that I even learned there was anywhere worth stopping on this long, straight stretch of highway, where semis roar and trucks loaded with oranges spill their overloaded wares onto the grassy berm.

As you drive into the preserve, watch for caracara. These unusual looking birds are Mexico’s equivalent of our American bald eagle, their national symbol. They have dark feathers and a parrot-like face, and are often seen hopping around along the ground.

From the Horseshoe Lake parking area, start your hike by taking a left past the picnic pavilion. Sign in at the hiker register, and begin the counter-clockwise loop around the lake atop marl-and-shell spoil piles covered in wispy muhly grass. When you come to a bridge, turn right to walk out and explore the island. There is a primitive campsite on the island, surrounded by your own personal moat. Returning to the main trail, turn right. Where the trail meets a fence line, turn left. The blazes change from white to blue.

It’s here you get into the heart of the hike—the walk to and around Hog Island, a dry hammock on the western edge of Fort Drum Marsh. Sloughs parallel both sides of this broad, sunny jeep road, providing you the chance to watch for waterfowl and alligators. At the fork in the jeep road, stay to the right. The trail gets a bit grassy and unkempt. A dense cypress swamp stretches off as far as the eye can see on the left, receding into darkness.