If you are looking for a short quarter mile walk near the Education Center, the Glass Lizard Trail is your hike of choice! A journey through a Pine Flatwoods habitat loops around to the marsh edge of what can be commonly referred to as an "ecotone" or place where two ecosystems meet. For a longer hike, take a look at the Gopher Tortoise Trail that spans roughly one mile through Flatwood terrain. Both trails can be accompanied by self-guided hiking booklets that can be borrowed from the Education Center and take you along various stops. The end of the trail leads you to our equestrian parking lot where equine enthusiasts can bring their horses to trail ride through the park. Water and a trailer turn-around area are available. For the start to our major trail system see the “North End Nature Trails” section on the website. Please phone the Education Center (772-398-2779) Thursday-Monday to obtain the gate code.
Offering over nine miles of trails one way, our north end of the Savannas trail system begins just west of the Canoe Launch. To access the Canoe launch stay left onto a ¾ mile dirt road from the main entrance to the park on Walton Road. The Canoe launch hosts a compost toilet, a look out dock, and two pavilions with picnic tables. These trails allow you to mix and match to make for a scenic hike through the Pine Flatwoods that suits your needs and distance. The Yellow loop has two bridges providing for scenic vistas into the basin marsh—a birder’s paradise! Not satisfied? The trail head at Jensen Beach now connects to the rest of the White Trail and offers an 11-mile long one-way hike.
If you are in the Fort Pierce area or are willing to make the drive, the Miller Property trails boast a host of wonderful sites. From the hardwood hammock ecosystem that borders the north fork of the St Lucie River to the dry prairie section of the trail, the not well traveled Miller Property is a beautiful depiction of South Florida habitat. When the Army Corps of Engineers straightened the St Lucie River they took out the natural oxbows in the river. This was the case within the Miller Property until recently when the oxbow was restored to provide a natural tidal flow as well as native vegetation. Come see for yourself the wild orchids and other wildflowers on the almost two miles of trails in southern Fort Pierce.
|
|