Burrowing right into a densely vegetated coastal hammock on the marsh facet of the peninsula at Fort Clinch State Park, this hike embody a pair of nature path loops.
The Willow and Magnolia Loops circle murky melancholy ponds thought to have been used for indigo dye processing.
The melancholy pondsNow murky swamps, they had been expanded within the Nineteen Thirties by the Civilian Conservation Corps excavating limestone for street constructing.
A fringe hike of almost a mile is feasible, however a shorter central loop reveals off the elevation modifications and the swamp at its most interesting.
On the perimeter Magnolia PathSources
Overview
Location: Fernandina BeachLength: 0.5 mileTrailhead: 30.698446, -81.444270Address: 2601 Atlantic Ave, Fernandina BeachFees: $4-6 per vehicleRestrooms: Nearest at customer centerLand supervisor: Florida State ParksPhone: 904-277-7274
Open 8 AM to sundown. No bicycles. Insect repellent and a mountaineering stick really helpful. Don’t hike by way of water masking any footpath.
Though permitted, neither leashed canines nor young children ought to accompany you on this hike as a result of shut proximity of alligators.
Instructions
Hike
4 entrances to footpaths radiate from this trailhead. Take the one adjoining to the massive Willow Pond Nature Path signal.
Enter the dappled shade of the bluff forest on the Magnolia Path. The well-worn path cuts throughout the slope of a hill.
Begin of the Magnolia PathAfter a small rise, a ribbon of swamp is seen by way of the dense vegetation downhill. Sort out a steep slope and clamber uphill below tall magnolias.
Descend to a bench earlier than the subsequent steep climb, reaching a junction with the Willow Path at a choice level.
Bench earlier than the junctionThe outer loop of the Magnolia Path clings to hillsides, however the inside Willow Path plunges on to swamp degree.
Turning onto the Willow Path, begin a relentless descent on a slender sand observe from the bluff forest right into a hydric hammock. Marsh ferns sprout from soggy earth.
Descent to swamp degreeLeveling out, flip a pointy nook previous a fallen oak with unusually twisted limbs and enter the swamp.
Daylight illuminates coffee-colored waters mere steps off the footpath, largely hidden by palm fronds.
Twisted oakCradling a swamp within the low level between historical dune swales, these man-made borrow pits are outdated quarries, lengthy and linear, flanking the path on each side.
The earth between is moist and generally mucky, coated in fallen fronds between the cabbage palms. Hold alert for the motion of snakes and alligators on this habitat.
Palm hammockA small rise gives a pleasant view throughout the close to pond and its reflective waters. Clusters of water spangles, a tiny aquatic fern, dapple the shadier spots.
Rounding a bend, attain the again facet of an indication at a path junction. It says “Excessive Water Bypass” the way in which you got here. The Willow Path extends in each instructions at this T.
Path junctionThe left is a shortcut in direction of the exit. Flip proper. The trail broadens, daylight streaming by way of Spanish moss within the cover of oaks and palms.
Attain one other junction, this time with the outer Magnolia Path. Taking it to the proper will loop alongside the far finish of the path system.
A bridge crosses over the swamp earlier than a climb to the bluff forest circling again to the junction you descended from earlier.
Vivid inexperienced waters close to junctionMake a left to proceed on the Willow Path, which stays near swamp degree, a puzzle of logs and sticks and fallen fronds separating footpath from the water at first.
Changing into a slender causeway crowded with bushes, the pathway edges near open waters of the swamp on the left, the pit on the proper crammed with dense grassy marsh.
Slender causewayThe causeway is low to each swamps. Hold alert for alligators: worn grooves in each instructions are alligator slides, the place they cross and generally solar on the path.
It’s harmful to get inside twenty ft of an alligator, so if one is on this causeway in entrance of you, retreat to an alternate exit through the Magnolia Path.
Alongside a palm-shaded hall flanked by swamps, the inexperienced tint brought on by the water spangles on the floor case an eerie glow.
Final path junctionAttain the ultimate path junction at a bench; that is the place the shortcut comes out to allow a loop of simply the Willow Path from its trailhead entrance.
The causeway broadens barely, with an imbalance of swamp: extra of it on the left than the proper.
Clinging to the footpath’s damp earth through a community of roots, an oak arches out over the swamp on the proper.
Arching oakVirginia willow and wax myrtle edge the greenish expanse on the left. Narrowing , the pathway turns into a deep groove within the causeway.
A tunnel of palm fronds components because the Willow Path reaches the tip of the borrow pits.
Groove within the footpathTo the proper, a spur path results in a bench overlooking a big swampy pond. The Willow Path turns left, crowded by palms.
It ascends into the coastal hammock, coming out on the parking space after a half mile hike.
Spur with a benchPath Map
Path Map
Discover Extra!
Study extra about Fort Clinch State Park
Fort Clinch State Park With 1,100 acres of pristine seashores, towering dunes, maritime forest, and estuarine tidal marshes, Fort Clinch State Park is certainly one of Florida’s paramount leisure areas. Video
Mountaineering the Willow Pond Trails at Fort Clinch
Slideshow
See our photographs from the Willow Pond Trails
Close by Adventures
Path Map (PDF) Reserve Campsite Official Web site
Writer of 45 books, Sandra Good friend established FloridaHikes.com in 2006 to increase on the sphere analysis she’d accomplished for her first six mountaineering guides. She has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Florida Path Affiliation and the Florida Outside Writers Affiliation.
