Side Trails

Open desert-like area near the picnic area

Walking counterclockwise on the loop, the first side trail you encounter is Walkway #8. Turn right and follow the boardwalk up and over the deep bowls between the dunes. Sea oats line the crests closest to the ocean; lone cabbage palms break up the landscape. Look closely at the sprawling prickly pear cacti— some have needles up to three inches long! On the climb over the last dune, notice how the sand catches and gathers around bitter panicum, the rough foredune grass holding the dunes against the wind. These white dunes look like mountains in miniature, with virtual glacial blocks of wind-hardened sand cracking away from the hillside, poised to break free. Sand cascades across the boardwalk, attempting to reclaim its territory. This is the populated side of the peninsula. With beach driving permitted, cars crowd as close to Ponce Inlet as the landscape allows.

Several short walkways connect the loop and the beach in the picnic area, but the side trails of greatest interest are nearest the tower. Walkway #2 crosses an old road edged with very out-of-place granite boulders, and scrambles onto another boardwalk out into dense mangroves that cluster around what looks like an old man-made canal. The walkway ends at Mosquito Lagoon. Walk away from the end of the peninsula to return on Walkway #1, which connects the fishing pier with the main loop at the closest point to the parking lot.