Cave opening by B A Bowen Photography

While hiking the B Loop in the Citrus Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest, the terrain drastically changes just past the C-D loop junction. After trekking several miles of hilly pine ridges full of Longleaf pines and blooming wildflowers under wide open blueskies and sunshine, the trail sinks down becoming uneven and dark. The trail had led me into another world with over sized oak trees creating a dense canopy protecting the lush green understory below. The branches were exploding with resurrection ferns while the rocky ground was covered with moisture loving ferns, vines, and an occasional mushroom. As I search for a worn path thru the thick green foilage as my eyes are drawn to a cave opening. The Sandhills of Citrus WMA are known for the karst topography that exists below. I find this scenery truly enchanting as I am drawn to the cave opening carved into a small limestone cliff. I spot an opening low to the ground that could only be entered by crawling. At this moment, I decided I am going inside to explore or spelunk. Spelunking is  a word of Greek origin that means “the art of exploring caves.”  Quickly I search my pack for my backpacking headlamp, push the on button, and strap it around my head. As I am headed for the opening, I cannot control my imagination as visions of Indiana Jones type scenes are flashing through my minds eye. Millipeeds, centipedes, slippery snakes and other creepy crawlers fill my thoughts. I take a moment to relinquish my fears and quickly scoot myself under the limestone into the cave. I breath a sigh of relief as I stand up and look around this narrow small limestone cavern. The walls are bone dry and not a spider, web, or creepy crawly type creature is in sight. The cave is completely desolate from any living organism. I look around and notice light coming in from the top. A few steps to the left and the cave becomes too narrow to stand. As I follow the light from the headlamp up the walls, I soon see a small opening in the cave ceiling. I keep searching the cave ceiling only to see a larger oval shaped opening that leaves and branches can clearly be seen.

Fallen tree by B A Bowen Photography

Intrigued with these openings, I leave the cave and follow the path up a steep hill to the top of the cave. Here I see a fallen tree that has been uprooted. Either the fallen tree had created the hole in the cave or the weakened cave ceiling caused the tree to fall I surmised. I cannot help but think what intriguing place this is as I continue my journey back down the trail.

Below is a video taken while exploring inside of this cave.

Golden Rod in the scrubby flatwoods by B A Bowen Photography

Oscar Scherer State Park is one of the largest remaining contiguous tracts of Scrubby Flatwoods habitats in Sarasota County. This 1381+ acres of scrub and Pine Flatwoods is home to the endangered Florida Scrub Jay, the only bird that is endemic to Florida. It is also an important habitat for other protected species such as the gopher tortoise, Eastern Indigo snake, and the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake. This habitat is modest as it is not particularly showy, the soil tends to be sandy and the terrain flat.

To get to the 5 mile loop the trail briefly leaves the park and follows the rails-to-trails path for 200 yards north to the entrance of the newer parcel donated by Ellie Scherer. It starts as a scrubby flatwoods habitat with curious Florida scrub jays making their raspy calls.

I am filled with delight as I spot the Florida giant orchid near an aging slash pine. The giant orchid is a terrestrial orchid with modest blooms that thrives in the well drained sandy soils of the scrubs. As you turn north there the habitat turns into hardwood hammock and offers much welcome shade. Cross the bridge at Black creek and the trail winds through a forest of slash pines. The slash pines make an interesting scene with their long needles, clumps of pine cones, and crooked trunks. I cautiously watch for bobcats lurking in the saw palmetto as I follow its tracks along the trail. As I round mile 4 there is a small lake with a wheelchair accessible overlook built for observation. I climb this modest facility and rest on a covered bench for a moment enjoying the sweeping view of the lake and then scurry back down the path.

Here I encounter a gopher tortoise coming at me head on completely unaware of my presence. I try to stay still while desperately feeling for me video cam hanging by a carabiner from the shoulder straps of my day-pack. Soon he notices me and recedes back into his shell. Amused at this slow moving work horse, I continue on with my trek.  See the gopher tortoise is classified as a keystone species that provides benefits in the form of shelter for up to 360 others other species in Florida. Look inside a gopher hole to find other inhabitants such as rattlesnakes, coachwhips, Eastern indigo, Florida Mouse, Burrowing owls and more.

I spot more goldenrod along the trail. I pause to observe the scene for photo angles and I hear a ruffle in the grass. I am taken aback by an eastern indigo snake barreling out of the grasses and raising his head as if to strike all in a moments time. He sees I am not a threat and quickly turns to disappear back into the brush. Soon the loop crosses back over the black creek and I am back in the scrubby flatwoods to complete the loop.

Map of Oscar Scherer Yellow Trail by B A Bowen Photography

The Red (2 mile) and Blue (1.5 mile) trails at Oscar Scherer State Park are a nice hike through Scrub Jay habitat as it winds through mesic pine and scrubby flatwoods. Both trails can be accessed east of the parking area near the nature center as they share the same path for the first leg of the loops. As I begin my journey, I encounter another gopher tortoise while he hastily makes his way down a worn path through the grasses to his gopher hole. I take a photo of his footprints left in the sand for future reference.

Soon I am at the intersection where the red and blue trails split apart. I turn left to follow the red trail first. The trail becomes soggy and meadow beauty adds splashes of pink color as it is seen blooming amongst the grasses. Crooked slash pines become more common as the trail turns south. The pines give way to a scrub dominated by saw palmetto with splashes of golden rod blooming up between these fibrous palms. As the loop turns back south, I come upon an island of purple liatris full of activity with several butterflies. Longtailed skippers, Cloudless sulphers, and swallowtails hop from stalk to stalk gathering nectar from the tiny purple blooms. I spend several moments here taking photos and appreciating this natural oasis bursting with color in a normally monochromatic green scrub.

The trail then rounds back east and I soon find the intersection that connects to the blue loop. I follow the blue loop east then south and observe as the mesic flatwoods habitat turns into a scrubby flatwoods dominated by low growing scrub oaks, wax myrtle and blackberry bushes. Out of natural curiosity, the scrub jays perch themselves nearby watching me hike through their territory. In an attempt to put them at ease, I grab my i-phone and play a scrub-jay call for them to hear. They come closer and sit in trees a few feet away. I play the call again and one flies over to sit on my head. Filled with amazement and surprise, I quickly switch from the Audubon Bird app to the camera app and blindly snapped photos trying to capture this wondrous moment of this friendly Jay on my head. After a few moments he flies away and I scroll through my photos happily find a few snapshots that captured the bird.

Friendly Florida Scrub Jay

Excited I begin to forward the photo in text messages to my best friend and my son. As I am consumed by communicating with my handheld electronic device, an eastern diamondback rattlesnake catches me by surprise as he comes barreling out of the grasses and coils ready to strike. I jump sideways to clear his path as adrenaline shoots through my veins. We are at a stand-off only six feet apart as he sizes me up while in strike mode. I keep one eye on the snake and use the other to work the phone as this was another great photo-op that I did not want to miss. After I capture a few photos on the I-phone, he relaxes and retreats back into the grass from where he came. My heart is pounding as I am thrilled to be hiking in such a wild place!

Eastern diamondback rattlesnake

From here the trail leads me east where a Rufus-sided towhee flies over and hides in a low growing oak tree. I continue on the trail as it turns briefly south then back west to complete the loop.
Click here to view more photos of Oscar Scherer State Park on flickr.

Recreational Opportunities: Enjoy this natural habitat by hiking/biking 15 miles of trails, canoeing the South Creek, camping, swimming, or enjoying the nature center. Oscar Scherer State Park is located on US 41 in the city of Nokomis.

Address: 

1843 S. Tamiami Trail

It was mid-week before I was certain I could make the trip to the panhandle for Wild Azalea Hike along the winding Sopchoppy River. I called the Leader of this electronically organized Meet-up event to see if I could join the Apalachee Chapter of the Florida Trail Association on this coveted hike. George was pleasant, accommodating, and quick to give me direction. I expressed that I was surprised this trip was not full….”Oh it is.” He quickly corrected my thinking “I just do not like to turn anyone away.” I thanked him and hung up the phone excited and eternally grateful that I was able to get the opportunity to see the Pink Wild Azalea’s in bloom. Flowers have always been a passion of mine and seeing a rare species is always a treat. And I was also grateful for our Section Leader, George, for taking on extra hikers and leading us under his expertise down this wondrous piece of the Florida Trail.

We convened promptly at 10:00 AM in the Publix Parking lot in the little town of Crawfordville. Introductions were made, waivers signed, and carpools were organized. In no time at all we formed a caravan and headed down the bumpy unpredictable forest roads of the Apalachicola National Forest. Despite a feisty fuel pump on one of the vans, our journey to the Monkey Creek Trail-head car went fairly smooth. Here we gathered as our leader gave a brief overview complete with photos of native plants and flowers characteristic to this trail. The few volunteers that agreed to participate in the car shuttle then left our group to position their cars at the other end of the Day’s hike. The rest of this 33 man group passed the time through light chatter, storytelling, and sharing of hiking adventures.

Soon George returned with his team of car poolers and we fell into an almost endless single line as we entered this narrow single track along the river bluff. I was excited about seeing the pink blossoms but was not expecting to see very many…only single scraggly bushes scattered about. Well it was not long before we encountered our first Wild Azalea bush….desperate for a photo of this rare beauty….I climbed through a thicket of saw palmetto to get a close up. As we persisted, I was able to relax as the Wild Azales bushes were becoming more prevalent, the flowers fuller, and closer to the trail.

(Click here to view this photo on Fine Art America)

As hard as we tried to keep up with our informative leader, the groups soon split up and I found myself back with the slow dawdlers…the hikers who enjoy taking their time to appreciate the subtleties that nature has to offer. Although this was a beautiful sandhill riverbluff habitat bordered by pine uplands, we earned our keep as we traversed up and down steep ravines formed by the side creeks that feed the Sopchoppy.

It was nice to regroup along the riverbank for a short rest and again at the Bridge over Monkey Creek for lunch. From here the trail soon left the river bluff and our legs enjoyed the flat terrain while our feet deeply appreciated the soft carpet of pine needles. Candyweed added splashes of color to the forest floor and the air was fragrant with the sweet smell of Ti-Ti blooms that seem to fence the pine forest off from the riverbluff. Ti-Ti bushes are a natural fire break as they can stop a controlled burn in its track and can be considered a nuisance if they encroach on our fire dependent pine forests. The trail then led us through a small stint of hardwood forest with a nice canopy of shade overhead and lush ferns at our feet. Soon we crossed through more TiTi bushes and found ourselves back out on hilly riverbluffs. The views of the river became more scenic as they were lined with the oddly shaped knees of the Cypress Trees protruding from the banks.

(Click here to view this photo on Fine Art America)

The group has spread apart again and I found myself alone for a stint but enjoying the solidarity. As I looked over the bank, I heard a local gal shouting out in delight as she reeled in a brightly colored fish from the shallow tanic waters. “Nice catch! Can I get a photo?” I called out to her. She held up her catch gleaming with pride and delight. She called it a “Sparkle Fish” and I could not question her expertise as I had never heard of nor seen a fish like this before.

I check my GPS for mileage and noticed that I was not too far from the hikes endpoint. I stepped up my pace and concentrated on following the orange blazes. Soon I emerged from the forest into a clearing to join the others as they had already dropped thier packs to relax and enjoy a cold drink. I could not help but to reflect on the sights I enjoyed today and thankful we have a National Scenic Trail to allow us to immerse ourselves into this unique place of Florida natural beauty.

Sopchoppy River Trail map by B A Bowen Photography

Ralph Kendrick Dwarf Cypress Boardwalk, Tates Hell State Forest, Franklin County, Florida

GPS Coordinates of Boardwalk:
N 29 deg 50.156
W084 deg 47.580

After a long day spent photographing wildflowers along Scenic Byway SR 65 and hiking in the Apalachicola National Forest, I decided to top it off with a visit to the famous Ralph Kendrick Dwarf Cypress Boardwalk that sits in the midst of Tate’s Hell State Forest. The view of this natural phenomenon was a perfect ending to an already stellar day! After a four mile drive along dusty forest roads, the less than one-half mile stroll takes you out into a majical land of dwarf cypress trees. The boardwalk is built such that it towers over the trees to allow the view overlooking a vast strand of these six foot wonders.
This unhabited land sits along the Gulf Coast between the Ochlockonee and Apalachicola Rivers and is best known for its large expanse of wetlands, thick underbrush, and ravenous insects. With 70% of the forest classified as either wet prairie or wet flatwoods, the swamp and its natural vegetation is an important filter for water draining into both the Apalachicola River and the East Bay. Tate’s Hell is also unique in that it hosts several strands of Dwarf Cypress Trees that are aged at over 150 years old but have not grown much past 6 feet in height. No one is certain why so many of the trees are dwarfed in this swamp but biologist believe the root growth could be impeded by the layer of clay that sits just below the surface. The roots grow down to reach the layer of clay then start to spread out. This pattern can be seen as the tree branches mimic this growth pattern and flatten out to take on the appearance of “hatracks” or natural “bonsai” trees.

Directions: From SR 65 enter the Forest on North Road and follow this road northward to Dry Bridge Road. Head east on Dry Bridge Road for approximately 3 miles. There will be a brown forest sign calling out the boardwalk and pointing in the direction of the parking area. GPS Coord. (N 29 deg 50.156
W084 deg 47.580)

Located just outside of the hustle and bustle of urban Tampa Bay, Brooker Creek Headwaters Preserve is a 1111 acre parcel amd the largest area of contiguous habitat remaining in Northwest Hillsborough County. These wild lands were set aside to preserve the headwaters of Brooker Creek and its watershed. This parcel is managed jointly by Southwest Florida Management and Hillsborough County and is an important recharge area for the Florida aquifer. Brooker Creek headwaters preserve is important to the health of Florida habitats as it flows westward and is the main water feed into Lake Tarpon and eventually into Upper Tampa Bay. Enjoy 5.5 miles of hiking trails marked by the Eagle Scouts that will lead you through Cypress Swamps, pine flatwoods, and oak hammocks. This wild little tract is bordered by housing on all four sides but offers a sanctuary for escape as it hosts threatened species such as the Hooded Pitcher Plant, pine lilies, ladies tresses orchids, and gopher tortoise. Trails can be seasonally wet. It is easy to access and definitely a nice place for exercise and exploration!

Brooker Creek Headwaters Hike google map by B A Bowen Photography

Brooker Creek Headwaters Preserve
18102 Ramblewood Road
Lutz, FL 33558