Ocala National Forest | My Exquisite Florida

We’re making a habit of meeting in the parking lot of the Umatilla Ace Hardware and then carpooling up into the Ocala National Forest. Getting closer to completing my goal of hiking the Florida National Scenic Trail through the Forest, the stretch from Pat’s Island to Hopkins Prairie is the latest section my hiking friends and I have covered. This is a very short section, less than 5 miles out and back, but worth a visit!

First Thing to Love: Shade

Nearly the entire section is shaded! During the August heat, this is an important quality, and we thoroughly enjoyed the shade.

Second Thing to Love: Sinkholes

Heading north from Pat’s Island Trailhead, and just past an unnamed sinkhole on the left, we crossed Forest Road 50. Big Sink is on the right just past Forest Road 50. It is large and deep, and always has water in the bottom. The far side appears to have steps leading to the water, but we were not able to find the spur trail. We’ll go back to look again, because there’s no public water supply at the Hopkins Prairie Campground.

Third Thing to Love: Sand Live Oak Canopy

After Big Sink, the trail runs right along Hopkins Prairie under lovely sand live oaks. It is difficult to describe how beautiful this is. The oaks grow as if they have no desire other than to shade hikers. The troubles of the “real” world fall away as you walk beneath these branches. Looking to the left, the Prairie stretches to the north and west, offering opportunities for bird watching and like Payne’s Prairie, this is a habitat that gets more interesting the longer you look.

Fourth Thing to Love: The Prospect of Bats

Just before we reached the campground, we stumbled upon a bathouse. It is currently unoccupied, but maybe the bats will move in or return soon. If I were a bat, I’d love to live here.

Fifth Thing to Love: Campsites

As soon as the night temperatures drop below 75, I hope to solo camp here for a couple of nights. The Hopkins Prairie campground is primitive, meaning no electricity and no public water supply. There are vault toilets but no showers. However, you can drive in to your campsite! So bring all the water you’ll need and don’t worry about finding a bear canister because there are bear-safe food vaults on every campsite. Campsites also have picnic tables and fire rings with grill grates. There’s a camp host at this campground.

Some of the sites have clearly not been used in quite some time, as evidenced by the small fungus growing on the table where we stopped before heading back to the car.

Small fungus growing on picnic table

We enjoyed this hike so much that we’ve just made plans to drive to the campsites and continue hiking north for an hour or so just to see if the next few miles are as gorgeous as the short jaunt from Pat’s Island to the campground. I would be surprised if there’s not just as much to love as we proceed north!

Summer temperatures have arrived, and neither of us wanted to spend a sweaty afternoon trying to stay hydrated in blazing sun. We got an early start and chose a short trail. Even though Salt Springs Observation Trail is a short two miles, we still found ourselves exhausted and soaked with sweat as we left the trail. But we agreed that we’d do it again!

Continue reading “Suddenly Sweltering: Salt Springs Observation Trail”

Best Laid Plans II (See Best Laid Plans I)

We are making progress with our plans to hike northbound through the Ocala National Forest! We’ve recently completed our first backpack camping trip and spent two nights sleeping in our hammocks, and we have learned a lot.

First, the Ocala National Forest continues to surprise us in unexpected ways. It is simply beautiful. It is complexly beautiful. You can visit the same area many times and see it in a new way each time. Sometimes the scenery does not change, but all of a sudden you turn a corner or reach the top of a hill and voila — an entirely new landscape opens up.

Continue reading “Learn Something New Every Day”

Steve dropped Judy and me off at Juniper Springs right on the dot of 7 AM on Easter Saturday. Our goal was to hike in to a primitive campsite 12 miles from Juniper, prepare our evening meal, sleep well, and hike out the next morning. Destination: Alexander Springs, 18 miles from the starting point. This trip was a major milestone in our preparations to hike the sections of the Florida Trail that pass through the Ocala National Forest.

This was an ambitious undertaking for us. We have covered 12 miles in a day before several times. We have hiked under full pack weight several times. But we’ve never before hiked 12 miles under full pack weight!

Continue reading “Buck Lake For Full Moon and Easter”