Bought by the state in 2021, Little Lake Santa Fe Protect joins a rising assortment of conservation lands northeast of Gainesville.
Managed by Alachua County, this property protects practically 70 acres on the headwaters of the Santa Fe River.
Protect entranceWhereas the land was as soon as a citrus grove and cattle pasture, a succession of loblolly pines has rewilded the excessive floor above the lake, making a shady cover.
The protect provides a set of well-marked paths; the 0.8 mile Marsh Path loop, and a 0.1 mile Brief Reduce cross path.
Following orange blazesSources
Overview
Location: WaldoLength: 0.8 milesTrailhead: 29.776114, -82.108138Address: 20201 NE 132nd Ave, WaldoFees: FreeRestrooms: NoneLand supervisor: Alachua CountyPhone: 352-264-6800
Open 7:00 AM to eight:00 PM April – September and seven:00 AM to six:00 PM October – March. Leashed canines welcome.
Instructions
Hike
Starting on the parking space, head by way of a spot within the fence towards an data kiosk with paper maps.
Flip proper to start the loop in a counterclockwise style, passing a submit marked with an orange arrow.
Trailhead kioskOrange blazes prepared the ground alongside a pathway carved right into a forest of pines, oaks, cabbage palms, and younger sweetbay bushes.
Beautyberry bushes dot the forest flooring, rising from tangles of catbrier and grapevines.
In lower than a tenth of a mile, flip proper at a junction the place the white blazed Brief Reduce Path continues southward.
Cross path junctionScattered pawpaws give rise to a inhabitants of zebra swallowtail butterflies, whose caterpillars depend on this particular host plant for meals.
Reaching a half mile, a slight drop in elevation is evidenced by the presence of sweetgum, maple, and cypress bushes.
Right here, a seasonal wetland coated in ferns and cypress knees edges the lake’s marshy shoreline.
Cypress bushes within the basin swampPrevious the southern junction with the Brief Reduce Path in one other tenth of a mile. A trailside bench faces the marsh, scarcely seen as a inexperienced haze behind dense stands of bushes.
On this quiet spot of the forest, the rhythmic chirping of crickets is sometimes interrupted by songbirds or the calls of red-shouldered hawks.
Bench close to the marshBecause the path curves again to the north, an interpretive signal describing wetlands stands subsequent to an earthen mound overlooking lush vegetation, a glimpse of marsh past.
Pine bushes regularly turn into extra prevalent once more whilst you stroll away from the lake on a large pathway.
Interpretative signageDwell oaks of various dimension intersperse among the many pines, their heavy branches carpeted with resurrection ferns that come to life in the course of the wet season.
Nearing 0.8 mile, the path takes one final flip, following alongside the street for a number of hundred ft earlier than ending on the trailhead.
Giant stay oakPath Map
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Climbing Little Lake Santa Fe Protect
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