We visited the Ralph E. Simmons Memorial State Forest this past weekend. It's a pretty
park along the St. Marys River in Bolougne/Hilliard. The white diamond loop is about 7 miles round trip and took a little over 4 hours, although I should say we stopped and smelled the roses along the way, for we weren't in any hurry to leave.

To my relief, the entire trail was well blazed. It has 2 primitive campsites along the St. Marys
River. The first along the southern leg of the trail about a mile and a half from the entrance
kiosk. It has 2 benches, a fire ring, a place to tie up your horse, and if you come in by river you could launch your canoe, along with the scenic view of the river. I think this site is the best of the 2 for backpacking. The canopy of the trees made it feel more secluded.

The other campsite is 3 miles from the entrance kiosk along the southern leg of the trail. This
site is more wide open and did not have a fire ring or benches. My hubby favors this site
because it provides a bit of beach to kick back and fish - where this bit of beach also would
make it easier to find the campsite by river and leave your canoe for the night to sleepover.

After leaving the second campsite, I could see a lake to my left. The water was high and after
receiving 4 inches of rain, the last 4 miles of the forest was soggy with flooded trails. Getting around the water wasn't too much of a problem and only made the hike more interesting. Along part of the narrow trail ran a stream that seemed to start from under ground and ended under ground. It was neat, but I don't know if it's there all year round.

We arrived at 1 in the afternoon on a cloudy, cool 70 degree day. Perfect for hiking. On a
warmer day you will definitely need to take your insect repellent and water with you on the trail. Long pants would also be good idea. Hubby brought home a pair of tics.

This park doesn't seem to have allot of traffic, with most of the walk on flat ground with wide
forest roads, I would have to rate it as an easy hike and maybe only moderate because it's
7 miles long.

In another part of the park is the yellow-red trail which is one of Florida's "trailwalker trails". I'll explore this the next time I go back.

Post edited by: day1971, at: 2008/04/09 13:12

Depending on the time of year you visit, the wildflowers can be pretty spectacular, too. This was one of the last places I visited while working on "50 Hikes in North Florida," just because it was the farthest from home. It was pretty dry at the time, but the campsites were just as you describe them.