Devoted in honor of a neighborhood soldier who misplaced his life in 2009, Msgt John E. Hayes Memorial Park is hidden past the Middleburg Historic District.
A 36-year-old Marine supporting a reconnaissance mission whereas stationed in Afghanistan, he was on his fifth deployment when his car was hit by a roadside bomb.
Memorial for Sgt. HayesEncompassing frontage alongside Black Creek, the park has a playground and fishing pier in addition to a sometimes-busy boat ramp.
Descend the bluff from both of two entrances to discover a boardwalk loop with overlooks and commentary decks among the many huge timber of the floodplain.
Assets
Overview
Location: MiddleburgLength: 0.5 mile loopTrailhead: 30.072802, -81.853917Address: 3788 Important St, MiddleburgFees: FreeRestroom: On the trailheadLand supervisor: Clay CountyPhone: 904-284-6378
Open dawn to sundown. Leashed canine welcome. Decide up after your pet.
Instructions
Hike
From the principle parking space, observe the sidewalk behind the playground. Descend a collection of staircases curving into the beginning of the boardwalk.
Getting into the floodplain forest, the straightaway meets a four-way junction. Flip proper.
Descent to the boardwalkTowering bald cypresses make up the excessive cover, with slender dahoon holly and sweetbay additionally reaching for the sky.
Hovering above the floodplain of the North Fork of Black Creek, the boardwalk spans swimming pools of darkish water.
Royal fern, grapevines, and sweetgum saplings are among the many loopy quilt of textures under.
Boardwalk on the base of the bluffAt a tenth of a mile, meet a second four-way junction. Flip proper. Floodplain timber rise from a sheet of darkish water because the boardwalk nears the creek.
Ascending by means of light curves to increased floor with pines and oaks, the boardwalk ends at a grassy terrace.
Grassy terrace close to memorialObserve the sidewalk to the left previous the picnic pavilion to the boat ramp. The memorial for Msgt. Hayes rests on the base of the flagpole barely uphill.
Stroll right down to the commentary deck and pier that adjoins it to soak up a sweeping view of a curve within the North Fork of Black Creek.
WaterfrontRising inside steephead ravines protected by Jennings State Forest, this winding waterway merges with the South Fork not far downstream.
Though it’s not apparent when driving by means of city, Middleburg straddles a peninsula created by that confluence, with Black Creek Ravines simply downstream.
Black Creek upstreamStroll again up the ramp to the sidewalk. Descend the boardwalk, assembly the four-way junction at 1 / 4 mile, and switch proper.
This phase jogs above the darkish water of the floodplain to the second commentary deck seen from the primary one.
Black Creek downstreamIt sits above a lily-dotted cove out of the principle stream of the creek. Whereas open to fishing like the opposite deck, it’s the higher perch for birding.
Return to the junction and switch proper. On mounded floor on the base of a tall pine, cinnamon ferns dominate the nook the place the boardwalks diverge.
Cinnamon fernsBeneath the arc of boardwalk, clear waters shimmer as they stream from indiscernable seepage springs.
Cabbage palms break the linear traces of floodplain timber packed densely sufficient the creek isn’t seen by means of the forest.
Spring-fed streamFrom a closing straightaway, the grassy bluff and its incoming staircase is seen up forward. However there’s yet one more aspect journey on the four-way junction. Flip proper.
This phase ends at a platform with benches beneath a magnificant stand of monumental bald cypress.
Boardwalk to the cypress platformMarvel at their peak and width earlier than returning to the preliminary junction.
Flip proper to climb the steps. Stroll previous the playground to the trailhead, finishing this half mile stroll.
Previous interpretive marker on the base of a cypressPath Map
Discover Extra!
Slideshow
See our photographs from Msgt John E Hayes Memorial Park
Close by Adventures
Path Map (PDF) Official Web site
Writer of over 40 books, Sandra Buddy established FloridaHikes.com in 2006 to develop on the sphere analysis she’d accomplished for her first six mountain climbing guides. She has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Florida Path Affiliation and the Florida Out of doors Writers Affiliation.
