A historic North Florida city along the St. Johns River, Palatka is located just a few miles east of the Florida Trail and a fifteen minute drive from the Ocala National Forest, providing a great gateway to outdoor adventures.
Bayard Point Conservation Area
The St. Johns River runs broad and deep near Green Cove Springs, where Bayard Point Conservation Area preserves an untouched Florida riverfront, bottomland floodplain with dense stands of bald cypress, sweet gum, and red maples. More than 15 miles of trails wander through the John P. Hall Nature Preserve portion of the conservation area – [...]
Bear Swamp Trail
Little known except to those who frequent this beautiful campground in the Salt Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest, the Bear Swamp Trail provides a glimpse into the ancient forest that undoubtedly crowded the shores of Salt Springs when botanist and explorer William Bartram visited the “amazing crystal fountain” in 1774. The easy [...]
Dunns Creek State Park
Dunns Creek State Park protects sandhills and scrub along a sharp bend in the St. Johns River. It is home to at least eight healthy populations of rare Etonia rosemary (Conradina etonia), the only other occurrence on public land outside Etoniah Creek State Forest, and has a steephead ravine at one end of the park. [...]
Florida Trail, Buckman Lock to Rodman Dam
Paralleling a segment of the failed Cross Florida Barge Canal, this mostly linear section of the Florida Trail sticks to a high berm created when the canal was dug. Nicely shaded for much of its route, it’s a gentle walk with the occasional scenic view of the waterway and the forests on its north side. [...]
Florida Trail, Etoniah West
Protecting nearly 9,000 acres of between Palatka and Keystone Heights, Etoniah Creek State Forest is home to a segment of the Florida Trail where backpackers and day hikers alike can get out and explore. This hike describes the western segment of the Florida Trail between the two major trailheads of Etoniah Creek State Forest, the [...]
Florida Trail, Gold Head Branch State Park
One of Florida’s oldest state parks, the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park opened in the 1930s, its facilities built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is one of the few state parks that the Florida Trail traverses, and a pleasant place to camp thanks to its many camping options. You can rent a [...]
Florida Trail, Hopkins Prairie to Salt Springs
While the Ocala National Forest is best known for having the largest expanse of scrub forest in the world, a lesser known facet of the forest – unless you hike the Florida Trail – are its wide, open prairies fringed with scrub forest. Here, sandhill cranes gather in groups, kingfishers buzz above small ponds, and [...]
Florida Trail, Lake Delancy to The 88 Store
An immersion in both sandhills and scrub awaits on a walk along the Florida Trail between Lake Delancy and Lake Kerr. Amid the tall longleaf pines of Riverside Island and the diminutive oaks of the Big Scrub you’ll find a parade of wildlife. Florida black bear sightings are most common along this segment, and plenty [...]
Florida Trail, Rodman to Lake Delancy
One of the most awe-inspiring sections of the Florida Trail, the segment between the Rodman Dam (more properly known as the George Kirkpatrick Dam) and Lake Delancy immerses you into longleaf pine forests that seem to go on forever. Providing a fine balance between the Big Scrub habitats and the breathtaking old-growth longleaf pines, it’s [...]
Florida Trail, Salt Springs to The 88 Store
Amid a patchwork of scrub ridges and longleaf pine islands, the Florida Trail makes its way northwest around the vastness of Lake Kerr on this 10.1 mile section. It’s accessible to day hikers via two connector trails – blazed in blue – that attach at Salt Springs and from behind The 88 Store, a popular [...]
Gold Head Branch State Park – Ridge and Ravine Trails
The steephead ravine that forms Gold Head Branch is a riot of green: deep green needle palms, ferns of every shape and size, water trickling, merging, and flowing downstream, and the canopy of native trees above, from hickory and sweetgum to longleaf pine and live oak. You can follow the trails from the ravine downstream [...]
Ravine Gardens State Park
Hike the trails at Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka, a botanical garden with a touch of Civilian Conservation Corps history and some very rugged hiking trails. Built in 1934 by CCC workers with 250,000 ornamental plants and 95,000 azaleas, Ravine Gardens was named the “Nation’s Outstanding Citizen Works Administration Project” when it opened. In [...]
Rice Creek Conservation Area
In the 1780s, British loyalists Thomas Forbes and William Panton fled from the American Revolution in Georgia to Florida, then a British colony. Applying for a land grant, they received acreage west of modern-day Palatka. Using servants to ditch dikes and build drainage canals, they established fields of rice and indigo (a native plant from [...]
Salt Springs Loop
Resources Overview Location: Salt Springs Length: 1.9 miles Lat-Long: 29.340072, -81.728832 Type: Loop with spur to boardwalk Fees / Permits: None Difficulty: easy to moderate Bug factor: low to moderate Restroom: None Directions From Ocala, take I-75 exit 352 and drive east on SR 40 through downtown Ocala and Silver Springs en route to the [...]
