At Seabranch Preserve State Park, walk a winter-like wonderland of coastal scrub in the southerly reaches of Martin County.

Seabranch Preserve State Park encompasses nearly 1,000 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway south of Stuart, and protects several critical habitats in an area overrun with coastal development. In addition to supporting populations of Florida scrub-jays and gopher tortoises across its many acres of diminutive scrub forest, Seabranch Preserve contains one of South Florida’s rare bayhead communities. Also known as a baygall, this swampy habitat filled with loblolly bay and sweetbay magnolia filters runoff from the adjacent scrubby flatwoods as the water flows down towards the tidal marshes of the Indian River Lagoon. Despite the fact that the park fronts the water, you can’t see it through the thicket—a fact quickly discovered by the intrepid trail-building crew, who after a fact-finding mission, decided a boardwalk would be the only way to show off this beautiful floodplain forest.

The trail system at Seabranch - the only way to explore the preserve - consists of two loops, North Loop (3.2 miles) and South Loop (1.9 miles), divided by an old forest road. Together, the loops create a 4.8-mile orange-blazed perimeter trail through the scrub and scrubby flatwoods, passing by the bayhead near the middle.  It was built and is maintained by the Tropical Trekkers chapter of the Florida Trail Association. This is not an easy hike, since it’s through soft sand, but it’s certainly an interesting one.

Guidebooks
50 Hikes in South Florida
Hiker's Guide to the Sunshine State
South Florida: An Explorer's Guide