Riverbanks Adventure Forum

Johnsons Pond – Home of a Rare Ancient Florida Rosemary Scrub – Trailwalker Week 3

// November 16th, 2009 // Adventures, Florida, Hiking

 

 

Boardwalk to Johnsons Pond through the cypress forest. by Riverbanksoutdoorstore

On Saturday, September 5th I met up with my dear friend and the webmaster of  Florida Hikes , Sandra Friend, to hike the Johnson Pond/Oxbow Combination located in the Two-Mile Prairie Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest near the small town of Citrus Springs.  These trails will both be in the upcoming newest edition of 50 Hikes in Central Florida. 

We began our trek in the early morn at Johnsons Pond.   The trail was well marked boasting Orange blazes as the eerie morning fog blanketed the ground. We followed the trail as it took us through Oak scrub and eventually to a boardwalk that lead us out to the view of a much receded pond surrounded by a vast wet prairie.  After we left the pond, Cypress trees lined the trail as it followed the edge of the pond eventually releasing us back into a sandy pine scrub. As we wind our way through the forest we saw and heard a family of scrub jays playfully flying in circles as they jump from tree to tree happy that the heavy morning fog was finally starting to lift. Eventually the trail led us into a rare scrub where Florida Rosemary and Deer Moss are found abundant. The Rosemary bushes are over 5 feet tall and spread equally as wide. Florida Rosemary bushes are slow growers and very susceptible to wildfire.  To see a bush reach this size is truely rare and this scrub has several.  This is truely a remarkable scrub and a place I will always remember!   As you look around the little grey puffs of deer moss cover the ground resembling a blanket of new fallen snow. We walked slowly through this area in awe of this fascinating habitat. It is a place like no other along the trail and one to be remembered. The trail then led us down hill and turned into an Oak Hammock with young sand oaks growing so closely that their winding branches appear entwined over the thicket of sand palmettos that filled in below. Gradually we see larger mature oaks more and more as the trail brings us back to end the loop.

After 2.2 miles, we were craving more trails….we headed across the highway to the Oxbow Trail and Recreation area to submerge ourselves in a whole different set of natural habitats.  The journey to become a Trailwalker continues….

 See more photos of Johnson Pond on Flickr

 Guide Books: 50 Hikes of Central Florida, Author Sandra Friend

Other Trailwalker Adventures Blogs: Goethe Week 1, Lake McKethan, Holly Hammock (week 2)