Make a splash on the southernmost section of the Florida Trail

This is one of the most beautiful and remote sections of the Florida Trail, but a rough and wet walk. This is where the trail begins, where sawgrass and cypress meet, and you walk through haunting forests of dwarf cypress trees and rare patches of pine rocklands with jagged limestone karst. The trail works its way around Robert’s Strand, a chain of deep cypress-lined ponds with fern forests and pond-apple swamps; it is always shady here. Marvel at the bromeliads and orchids growing in profusion in the cypress strands.

Daunting as a solo hike, this can be a lot of fun with a group. But it’s not an easy hike. Expect a 1 MPH pace as you traverse rugged rocky terrain and wade cypress strands. It’s easy to lose the trail, so watch for each blaze.

Overview

LOCATION	Big Cypress National Preserve
LENGTH	7.8 miles
LAT-LONG	25.760233, -81.034333‎
TYPE	Linear
GOOD FOR	primitive camping
FEES/PERMITS	Free permit at kiosk or ranger station
DIFFICULTY	strenuous
BUG FACTOR	Medium to Heavy

Hike!

Starting north from the kiosk, you’re following Sawmill Road, an old cypress logging road. The trail leads you down a garden path of giant paving stones of limestone bedrock pockmarked with solution holes. Expect puddles. At 0.4 mile, a slight elevation gain leads you into a pine rockland, a highly endangered habitat with scraggly wizened Dade County slash pines rising up from the jagged limestone.

After you pass the first mile marker, the trail gets wetter as it crosses open sawgrass prairies and stands of dwarf cypress over the next two miles. Your hiking stick will come in handy to help you from slipping on the marl mud. When it’s damp, it’s like walking on butter.

Frog Hammock Camp is at 3.3 miles. For backpackers, this is the only reliable campsite in this segment of trail, and it may be underwater in the wet season. Logs and concrete blocks surround the fire ring, providing rough seating, and there is a pitcher pump near a large solution hole. Treat the water.

Leaving Frog Hammock, you enter your first deep cypress strand, where colorful bromeliads dangle from bald cypress trunks as you wade through the swamp. Expect the water to be at least knee-deep. You’ve entered the first of many miles of the jungle-like wet cypress forests that characterize the Big Cypress Swamp. Walking is difficult (and very aerobic) because you’re constantly pushing water in front of you. Use your hiking stick to probe each step to avoid stepping into an ankle-catching solution hole.

After 4.5 miles, you reach Robert’s Strand. Sword ferns rise over your head. The traverse of Robert’s Strand runs east-west along an old logging tramway broken up by stretches of swamp. Expect deep water in each slough crossing. At 5 miles, you’ll pass a small high knoll to the north. After the tramway ends, the footpath will be wet in most places and you’ll be wading through more stretches of dense cypress swamp. You’ll see footpath damage through this section, where day-trippers out of Oasis make parallel hiking paths to the main trail to stay out of the water. As you wade, do not step on the slippery underwater logs for footing. At the 7 mile marker, you can see the open sky above the Oasis Ranger Station. Cross US 41 carefully, as there is always high-speed traffic rushing past.

Directions

Shuttle to south end recommended.
South end: From US 41 (Tamiami Trail) at Forty Mile Bend, follow Loop Road south through the Miccosukee Reservation; it turns to graded limestone once it enters Big Cypress National Preserve. After 13 miles, you pass the Tree Snail Hammock Nature Trail sign. Keep alert, as you soon reach the Florida Trail kiosk on the right side of the road. Do not leave a car parked here overnight.

North end: Oasis Visitor Center is along US 41 within Big Cypress National Preserve, with water and restrooms, 53 miles from Naples and 57 miles from Miami.

Map

Guides

BUY The Florida Trail: The Official Hiking Guide
BUY The Hiking Trails of Florida's National Forests, Parks, and Preserves
BUY Hiker’s Guide to the Sunshine State

Obtain a detailed map from the Florida Trail Association
Learn more at Big Cypress National Preserve