At the reconstructed Fort Cooper
Last month, I started the first of what will be many trips to revisit and revise all of the hikes in “50 Hikes in Central Florida.” First on the list was Fort Cooper State Park. It’s nearby, it wasn’t raining (ever so briefly in a week’s worth of rain), and it was short enough to consider for a hot summer’s day. Fort Cooper is notable as a historic site from the Second Seminole War, but it’s also a pleasant getaway for families and moms who want to take their kids to a nice playground and picnic area. You can’t swim in the lake anymore, but the park is now directly connected to the Withlacoochee State Trail, so it’s easy for Inverness residences to bike right in. In addition to finding part of one trail paved, we discovered a new 1.8 mile loop – the Sandhill Loop Trail – where wildlife, especially gopher tortoises, was in abundance. It was an excellent morning for wildlife watching. Revisiting this hike proved that it makes good sense to revisit them all, as things do change!
