From Scrub to Lake

End of the Gobbler Ridge Trail: Lake Kissimmee

Reaching the edge of the park, the trail makes a hard turn at the fence line and heads out through a hammock of sand live oak before it enters the open scrubby flatwoods. After you cross the park entrance road, a stark but compelling landscape of dense, low saw palmetto and scattered longleaf pines goes on for the next half mile, broken only by small circular wet prairies and one tiny oak hammock. Keep alert for scrub-jays and caracara, as well as rufous-sided towhees that poke through the underbrush. At 3.2 miles, you reach an old snag catfaced for turpentining, hung with the traditional clay cups and, more untraditionally, the skull of a scrub cow.

After 4 miles of hiking, the forest becomes denser, turning to pine flatwoods that offer well-appreciated shade. Crossing the park road again, you enter a hammock of pines and oaks. Squeezed between the park road and the prairie, this narrow strip of hammock contains both the trail you’re on and the trail you’ve been on, not more than a hundred feet apart in places. Be very cautious about stepping off the footpath, as you might end up stepping back on to the wrong white-blazed trail segment!

At 5.7 miles, you reach the trail junction for the Gobbler Ridge trail. Continue straight, following the blue blazes on this spur trail out to Lake Kissimmee. The footpath is well worn in the blinding white sand. The “ridge” is only a few inches high, but high enough to keep the sweeping prairie off to the left at bay. Where the trail seems to end at a T with a jeep track, turn left, following the jeep track through the tall grass. When you reach the “End of Trail” sign at 6.8 miles, you haven’t quite run out of land. Head straight another hundred feet onto the “beach” of Lake Kissimmee, relict sand dunes with clumps of saw palmetto. The marshy shores of the lake lap at the sand; you can see clear water not far off in the distance.

Retrace your steps along the blue blazes back to the white loop. Turn left. Passing two flatwoods ponds, the trail veers towards the right, crossing a jeep trail and the park road in quick succession. At 8.4 miles, you reach the “Starting Point” sign, indicating you’ve completed the entire North Loop Trail. Turn right and follow the blue-blazed trail back to the parking lot