Lifting up my head from my work on the book to note that wildfires have decmiated the Florida Trail in Seminole State Forest and the Royal Trails area north to Maggie Jones Road. While it’s not known how much of the trail still exists in the Osecola National Forest, the prospects aren’t great – the Bugaboo Fire is the largest wildfire Florida has ever seen and it’s still burning. The trail is closed from Ocean Pond west to Camp Branch west of White Springs, and I’d suggest not going near the whole upper Suwannee Valley for hiking due to the smoke. From the locator maps, I’d venture a guess that the Big Gum Swamp Trail and Fanny Bay Trails have been wiped out, but will wait for official comment on that. Down south, fires in the Big Cypress Swamp are close enough to the Florida Trail to cause smoke inhalation problems. I wouldn’t recommend hiking down there right now.
For official details about the Florida Trail closures, see www.floridatrail.org. Be careful out there!
