Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail

CAUTION: This is one of South Florida’s most beautiful trails, but it’s not for the inexperienced hiker. Some wilderness savvy is in order. Do not take small children on this trail. Unless you visit on a chilly day in the dead of winter, the mosquitoes are fierce: wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a hat; carry insect repellant; and bring a mosquito head net just in case. This can also be a very wet hike, where you’ll slog through ankle-to-knee deep water through several stretches of cypress swamp. A permanent slough crosses the trail, and until it is bridged, you’ll wade through several streams bounded by thick, sticky mud. Bring spare clothing and shoes to change into after the hike. Backpackers may want to carry a large trash compactor bag to put their packs into for water crossings. As the water can become very deep in the slough, do not attempt this trail during the wet season or after a recent rain. Always first consult with the park rangers as to trail conditions.

Before you start your hike, you must check in at the ranger station, pay your state park use fee, and inform them you are hiking the trail before proceeding to the trailhead. Let them know if you intend to use the backpacker’s campsite, or they will come looking for you when the park closes. The ranger will give you a combination to the gate. From the ranger station at the main entrance, drive 0.8 mile east on US 41. Stop at the gate on the north side of the road, and use the combination to unlock it. Lock it up behind you. Drive along the dirt road until you come to a broad spot next to a pond. Park here but do not block the gate.

A blue-blazed connector trail starts at the FT sign at the parking area, leading you across undulating terrain through stands of sand live oaks in the scrubby flatwoods. After 0.1 mile, you reach a T intersection with the orange-blazed loop. Turn right to hike the loop counterclockwise—the recommended direction, as it leaves the wettest portion of the trail for last. That doesn’t mean you won’t hit water right away, as the trail is the low spot in the forest, and tends to be wet; cypress knees as big as footstools poke out of inky water. Emerging from the cypresses, the trail rises into cabbage palm flatwoods.

At 0.5 mile, the trail crosses an abandoned forest road and makes a sharp turn left at a double-blaze into dense forest. Although narrow, the trail corridor remains distinct. Emerging from this wet section, you rise up into a drier prairie. Cypresses close in around the footpath again around 1.3 miles; keep alert for each blaze through the maze of trees.

Another forest road crosses at 1.5 miles. If you need to cut your hike short, this is your last chance to do so before heading into the heart of the swamp—turn left and walk 1.5 miles back along the road to the gate at the parking area. Otherwise, continue across the road past the “FT” sign and into the prairie beneath the pines. At 2 miles, you cross another road and pass a bench.