This was a 5-star hike but it didn’t start out that way.
I was a bit concerned about the hike before I started because All Trails listed this hike as the Red Trail and identified it as a 4.9 mile hike. Looking at the map posted at the trailhead, there wasn’t much identified as part of the red trail. Plus, the longest hike, the Perimeter Loop Blue Trail, was only 2.9 miles. Nonetheless, I decided to try to follow the path marked in my app.
The hike started as a paved path. Not my favorite type of hike but it’s Florida and I figured paved was better than soggy since we had a healthy amount of rain the day before. Following in the direction indicated by the app, I noticed the trail marked with blue posts intertwined the paved section and generally followed the direction I needed to go. I decided to start following the Blue markers until I got to the observation tower. That was a really nice surprise. I climbed to the top and enjoyed a pretty nice view. I took a panorama shot of it.
Once I was ready to move on, I decided to just follow the blue markers. Sadly, they took me WAY off course. I kept having to decide between following blue trail posts and campground signs. At one point, I realized I was heading west instead of south and decided to make a loop out of the detour. Not a big deal but I ended up adding almost two miles to the hike. That would be the bit on the left of my path below. 🙂
The really fun part of the hike was just about to start. If you compare the trailhead map with the route I got from All Trails, you’ll notice that the trailhead map only shows the top half of the route. The bottom half is where the trail got interesting. I passed the “Do not handle snakes and wildlife” sign and the trail changed from paved and groomed trails to a legitimate trail. This was about when I realized that the red trail was actually marked with red painted rectangles on trees and NOT by the very visible posts in the ground. Suddenly, it was much easier to stay on track.
The remainder of the hike was spectacular and gorgeous. I ran into very few other people and all I could hear was the wind in the trees and songbirds. As a bonus, everything was high and dry. There was almost no standing water on the trail despite the recent rainfall.
After I rounded the southern end of the trail and headed north, I was pretty deep in thought as I made my way along the path. I rounded a corner and encountered my first view of the river. The sudden view was both unexpected and beautiful. Heading back towards the trailhead, I encountered a few more times and got some great pictures of the river.
Overall, the hike was a fantastic outing that I look forward to repeating. It was one of those rare Florida days where it was dry, cool and breezy. The sun was out, the temperature was in the mid-60s. It was perfect.
