On the japanese facet of Pine Log State Forest, a formidable community of trails meander throughout huge sandhill and mesic flatwood habitats within the Choctawhatchee River floodplain.
Initially developed for bikes, the Crooked Creek Path types a 9-mile loop, crossing paths a number of instances with the equestrian-only Previous Sawmill Path.
The trail is a slim singletrackThe Crooked Creek Quick Path shortens the hike to 4.5 miles, creating a neater route for these on foot to discover these scenic landscapes.
Regardless of in depth logging over time, the forest service has completed a superb job restoring and sustaining the pure great thing about this rural forest.
Restoration sandhill habitatSources
Overview
Location: EbroLength: 4.5 milesTrailhead: 30.411167, -85.868556Address: SR 79, EbroFees: $2 per personRestrooms: Vault rest room on the trailheadLand supervisor: Florida Forest ServicePhone: 850-535-2888
Open dawn to sundown, leashed canines welcome. Verify forward for looking seasons. In the event you select to hike throughout them, put on vivid orange.
Instructions
Hike
On the trailhead kiosk, make a right away left to start the loop in a clockwise route.
Purple path markers paved the way alongside a slim strip of yellow sand reducing via a verdant sea of combined foliage.
Picnic tables on the trailheadThe path follows a large curve to the south, weaving between columns of slash pines in an open savanna.
It’s peppered with native milkweeds, meadowbeauties, greeneyes, and showy sandhill laurels, a diminutive cousin of the mountain laurel.
Sandhill laurels in bloomHilly terrain begins after passing a bench and a submit marking one mile, the place the path approaches a ravine and tributary flowing north towards Little Crooked Creek.
Though water isn’t seen from the path, the stream is clear from sloping landscapes and dense stands of hardwood timber.
Contoured topographyTurning to climb a sandy ridge, the trail enters a clearing stuffed with woody goldenrod, a pretty shrub that produces plumes of vibrant yellow flowers in early autumn.
The path then makes a good bend round a steep despair earlier than reaching a faint pathway main all the way down to a small stream.
Woody goldenrod clearingTannic water rushes round a cluster of cypress knees, making a tiny waterfall alongside a deteriorated bridge the place the path used to cross.
Shortly after reaching the two-mile mark, an indication signifies the blue path used to shorten the hike.
Proceed straight, following blue markers as the trail veers westward.
Creek waterfallIn 1 / 4 mile, hold a watch out for a bathroom to the south marked with fuzzy white and yellow inflorescences of goldencrest.
Yellow-topped and parrot pitcher crops conceal among the many tall grasses.
Parrot pitcher cropsReaching a bench and intersection at 2.7 miles, be part of the red-blazed path once more. The trail winds northward to observe alongside a floodplain swamp.
Thread between a mixture of moist flatwoods and sandhill communities for 1.8 miles earlier than returning to the trailhead.
Bench on the path junctionPath Map
Discover Extra!
Study extra about Pine Log State Forest
Pine Log State Forest Florida’s oldest state forest provides waterfront tenting and a wide range of loop trails for hikers, cyclists, and equestrians, plus a 5.7 mile linear section of the statewide Florida Path.Video
Climbing the Crooked Creek Path
Close by Adventures
Path Map (PDF) Hunt Dates Reserve Campsite Official Web site
