Big Slough Preserve – Florida Hikes

Extending from the canal bordering residential North Port north to SR 72, this 4,744 acre swath of former ranchland is tall and skinny.

Acquired in 2007, it’s collectively managed by Sarasota County and Southwest Florida Water Administration District.

Like neighboring Carlton Reserve and close by Deer Creek Protect, the path system inside Huge Slough is principally on ranch roads and covers a large scale.

Many ranch roads additionally function firebreaks

Trails accessed from the SR 72 trailhead are optimum for equestrian use. The south finish of the protect is finest for hikers and cyclists.

Entry it from Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. By a again gate, a path results in a bridge into Huge Slough Protect.

Myakkahatchee Trailhead

From the Myakkahatchee Trailhead, the Powerline Path extends west into Carlton Reserve and connects to its path system.

Westbound, Powerline Path additionally offers entry to the protect’s intensive community of named trails utilizing ranch roads between numbered markers.

Powerline Path West

Extending east, it results in singletrack constructed by SCORR (Sarasota County Off Street Riders), loops paralleling a portion of Huge Slough channelized within the Nineteen Forties.

Straight forward, a brief loop returns to Myakkahatchee Trailhead after circling wetlands throughout the unique floodplain of the slough.

Wetlands to the east

Because of the distance between junctions, mountaineering this community requires cautious navigation utilizing their path map and breadcrumbs in your GPS.

Our mile route described under is the shortest loop you are able to do. Increase on it with further round-trips and loops of as much as 8 miles or extra.

A shady ranch street

Sources

Overview

Location: North PortLength: 1 mileTrailhead: 27.12064, -82.19478Address: 6968 Reisterstown Street, North PortFees: FreeRestroom: On the trailheadLand Supervisor: Sarasota CountyPhone: 941-316-1201

Open dawn to sundown. Leashed canines welcome; choose up after your pet.

Instructions

Hike

Stroll to the very northwest nook of the parking space and switch left to exit on the trail between the posts.

Emerge onto the grassy levee and take the ramp between the fences to cross the bridge over the canal.

Levee and bridge

Descend from the bridge underneath a stay oak cover, reaching the Myakkahatchee Trailhead of Huge Slough Protect at 0.2 miles.

That is the departure level for all doable routes within the south finish of the protect. The sun-drenched linear graded Powerline Path within the FPL right-of-way runs east-west.

Myakkahatchee Trailhead

For the shortest loop within the protect, stroll straight throughout Powerline Path and jog proper to enter a slight hole within the timber.

Becoming a member of a grassy hall marked by a cluster of cabbage palms, slip previous a picnic desk close to the shade of a sprawling stay oak draped with Spanish moss.

Cross Powerline Path to the opening in treeline

The observe curves via a line of oaks and palms defining the sting of a boggier basin, the place blue flag iris sport purple blossoms in March.

Lined with tall golden-hued grasses, the hall follows the oak-dotted rim of a big moist prairie seen via gaps to the north.

Nicely-defined treadway

Cross a swale of slough that typically is underwater because the higher prairie overflows into others at barely decrease elevations.

Rising via an island of mature stay oaks, meet an unmarked path junction with a ranch street. Flip proper. Bromeliads cling to branches overhead.

One of many many sloughs of Huge Slough Protect

Go a kiosk for the beginning of Dwell Lengthy, a singletrack mountain bike path. Though it comprises twists and turns and technical options, hikers are welcome to stroll.

Out and again, it’s a 4 mile spherical journey. It’s finest to deal with on weekdays, as weekends entice probably the most offroad riders.

Dwell Lengthy kiosk. Sure, there’s a Prosper, too.

Past the kiosk for Dwell Lengthy, the grassy path widens because it approaches the levee topped with the Powerline Path. Clamber up the levee and make a left.

At a half mile, the east finish of the Powerline Path ends shortly on the bridge over Huge Slough.

Often known as Myakkahatchee Creek, this waterway rises within the huge open marshy prairies encompassed by this protect and its neighbors.

Bridge over Huge Slough

On the east aspect of the waterway, the Prosper Path begins on the left. Like Dwell Lengthy, it’s a linear singletrack paralleling the channelized creek for two miles.

When water ranges are low, it’s doable to attach the 2 at their north ends to make a 4 mile loop.

Huge Slough under the bridge

From the bridge, return west alongside the Powerline Path, Rimmed with Virginia willows, low swales of marsh lie under either side of the levee.

Alligators gravitate to the deeper open water within the marshes on the proper.

Trailside slough

Attain the Myakkahatchee Trailhead at 0.8 miles. A left flip leads again to the trailhead and parking space south of the bridge to finish a mile hike.

Or 5 miles, should you tackled both the loop or round-trip utilizing Dwell Lengthy and Prosper.

For an extended hike, strive the subsequent largest loop on the south finish of the protect. We solely sampled a portion of it.

Return path to trailhead

Strolling 0.4 miles east of the trailhead kiosk alongside the Powerline Path, oaks yield to pine flatwoods. Constellations of bathroom buttons rise from the grassy berm.

At a transparent open hole within the pines, flip proper to entry the ranch street community. Make a proper on the firebreak paralleling Powerline Path.

Hole between pines

Meet Marker 145, a blue-tipped submit. A left at this junction allows a clockwise route connecting Markers 145, 144, 143, 142, and 141.

Roughly 3 miles from Marker 145, meet a well-recognized junction with the internal loop previous the Dwell Lengthy Path kiosk.

Marker 145

Alternatively, spherical journey so far as you want on Powerline Path. It’s a most popular route for cyclists due to the comparatively packed floor.

Utilizing some brief street rides, it’s doable to attach each ends of it to the Legacy Path North Port Extension for a 21 mile biking loop.

Pausing alongside Powerline Path

A half mile from the Myakkahatchee Trailhead, Powerline Path enters neighboring Carlton Reserve and retains on going to intersect with its path community.

Changing into a raised causeway above intensive marshes, this full-sun path offers ample alternatives for wildlife watching. Particularly for big alligators.

4 miles out, an extended bridge over a showy swamp makes a great landmark for a most round-trip of 8 miles from Myakkahatchee Trailhead.

Swamp 4 miles west of the trailhead

Irrespective of which route you select, you need to return to Myakkahatchee Trailhead to succeed in your automobile.

Exit previous the kiosk and path signal, crossing the canal bridge and to retrace the levee to the again gate of Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.

View of again gate from canal bridge

Path Map

Discover Extra!

Video

Mountaineering Huge Slough Protect

Slideshow

See our pictures from Huge Slough Protect

Close by Adventures

Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park Alongside a 2.1 mile loop largely underneath a lush cover of stay oaks and cabbage palms, circle a deeply eroded basin holding sinuous Myakkahatchee Creek, also called Huge Slough.

Carlton Reserve Lower than a dozen miles from downtown Venice, the huge expanse of T. Mabry Carlton Reserve offers regional consuming water and a large refuge for wildlife.

Official Web site

Articles collectively researched, written, and photographed by Sandra Pal & John Keatley, Florida authors and publishers of FloridaHikes.com.

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