The age of the bushes belies the historical past that unfolded right here earlier than the park opened as Westside Regional Park in 1979, when town leased this land from NAS Jacksonville.
Throughout World Struggle I, this was a part of the Camp Johnston navy reservation.
To accommodate the Navy’s want to have an air base alongside the St. Johns River, the Military relocated to Starke, taking the identify Camp Blanding.
Outdated brick highway from the times of Camp JohnstonA remnant of the neighborhood of Black Level, a small city referred to as Yukon, persevered throughout from NAS Jacksonville.
In 1963, the Navy pressured the principally black residents to depart, stating it was unsafe to stay right here because it was within the flight path of their jets.
The story of Yukon is shared on the Nature Middle advancedGreater than 20 years later, Jacksonville Metropolis Council president Tillie Ok. Fowler satisfied the Navy to convey the land to town completely.
In 1996, the character heart and its trails and commentary tower opened, drawing residents to discover these engaging woodlands.
After her dying, the park was renamed in her honor in 2005.
Statement tower on the Ortega River floodplainSources
Overview
Location: OrtegaLength: 1.4 milesTrailhead: 30.23745, -81.69920Address: 7000 Roosevelt Blvd, JacksonvilleFees: FreeRestroom: On the trailheadLand Supervisor: Metropolis of JacksonvillePhone: 904-255-6877
Open dawn to sundown. Leashed canines welcome; choose up after your pet. Use precautions for private security when visiting an city park.
The park stays within the flight path of jets touchdown and departing NAS Jacksonville: count on noise from low-flying plane simply above the tree cover.
Instructions
Hike
From the parking space, observe the sidewalk alongside the circle in direction of the character heart. Pause on the kiosk for a photograph of the map.
Proceed up the walkway, passing a butterfly backyard earlier than a ramp results in the middle and an adjoining pavilion.
Path kioskA picket ramp leads from the again of the advanced to a paved path in a lush hardwood hammock.
At a Y intersection, bear proper to remain on the Tower Path; the opposite path heads in direction of the canine park and picnic space.
Ramp to path junctionAdjoining a bench at this junction, a brick walkway heads into the forest. Cross it by and keep on the asphalt path.
On the subsequent junction with an asphalt path on the correct, proceed straight forward per the Statement Tower signal; it’s the vacation spot of the Tower Path.
Comply with the Statement Tower indicatorsSimply previous a thick-trunked oak with a inexperienced blaze, attain a T with one other paved path. Flip proper. A little bit methods additional into the woods, a boardwalk begins.
At 0.2 miles, a ramp on the correct descends to the floor of the outdated brick highway. Proceed previous it to cross over the outdated highway on the boardwalk.
The boardwalk ends, a footpath persevering with round a big pine to a bridge over an ephemeral waterway. Netted chain and cinnamon ferns thrive in its low channel.
Ramp to the outdated brick highwayAfter Marker 5, enter a climax sandhill with many laurel oaks. Bear left the place the footpath splits right into a loop.
Marker 8 stands by a palm the place this quick loop comes collectively once more.
Bear left at this broad junctionHead in direction of the bridge, which crosses one other section of the outdated brick highway. Just like the final one, the highway vanishes into the forest in each instructions.
On the finish of the bridge, a footpath leads left right down to the bricks. Quickly after, a bench stands close to a split-trunk pine.
View of brick highway from the bridge over itThe habitat shifts on the method to the Ortega River floodplain. Pines and oaks are joined by lobolly bay and magnolias, and ferns blanket the understory.
At a half mile, a facet path results in the outdated brick highway, however a big signal factors you in the other way to proceed in direction of the tower, throughout a bridge.
Junction with brick highway and footpath to towerAt a junction with a blue-blazed facet path at Marker 12, start the boardwalk into the floodplain.
Elevated barely above the forest flooring, it gives a pleasant perspective. Ferns crows extra intently because the tower itself is revealed via a break within the bushes.
Approaching the towerAt this finish of the Tower Path at 0.6 miles, two flights of stairs result in the highest deck. Absorb a sweep of marshes alongside the Ortega River, a ribbon of blue within the distance.
A swampy cove lies on the base of the tower, generally busy with herons feeding.
Ortega River floodplainDescending the steps, the angle again alongside the boardwalk into the forest is simply as fascinating.
On the return journey, both return the way in which you got here or take certainly one of a number of choices to make loops. Seek the advice of the map you photographed for a tough concept of how they go.
Begin of the Blue Path by the tower boardwalkThe primary is the slim blue-blazed path on the finish of the boardwalk. It shortly turns east, hopping on the outdated brick highway briefly.
Flip off onto one other blue-blazed footpath to a linear eastbound piece of the outdated brick highway that comes out by the canine park.
Comply with the trail behind the canine park again to the character heart, bearing proper the place it splits.
Return route from canine park behind the character heartAlternatively, make a northerly loop alongside the outdated brick highway between the 2 boardwalks crossing it on the Tower Path.
It curves alongside the sting of the floodplain at its northermost level. Use the ramp to the accessible portion of the Tower Path to proceed in direction of the character heart.
Northeast entry to the brick highway loopThe asphalt path on the left previous the again of the Statement Tower signal dead-ends at a pair of benches within the woods, however a footpath continues downslope.
This nice choice slips via beds of ferns beneath towering hardwoods, assembly the brick path that circles the character heart.
Make a left on that interpretive path to proceed across the constructing advanced, exiting via the archway of the butterfly backyard. Return to the trailhead for a 1.4 mile hike.
Interpretive pathRegardless of the return route, a hike will run between 1.2 and 1.9 miles: a direct round-trip to the tower versus a return to the character heart alongside the blue-blazed path.
Add one other 0.6 miles by making a circuit of the outdated Brick Highway utilizing the blue-blazed connector between its parallel segments at its south finish.
Bench on the northeast nook of the outdated brick highwaySo as to add as much as one other 1.9 miles of climbing, proceed throughout the park highway from the parking space to the asphalt path resulting in the Island Path.
Tillie Ok Fowler Island Path On a hike of almost 2 miles, the Island Path at Tillie Ok. Fowler Regional Park reveals off upland and floodplain forest habitats alongside the Ortega River in Jacksonville.Path Map
Discover Extra!
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Mountaineering the Tower Path at Tillie Ok Fowler Regional Park
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See our images from Tillie Ok Fowler Regional Park
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Creator of over 40 books, Sandra Pal established FloridaHikes.com in 2006 to increase on the sphere analysis she’d accomplished for her first six climbing guides. She has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Florida Path Affiliation and the Florida Out of doors Writers Affiliation.
