Monday, November 07, 2016

Hiking Bear Swamp Trail

Adjacent to the Salt Springs Recreation Area, in Ocala National Forest, is where this loop trail can be found.

Tina at Bear Swamp Trailhead
Bear Swamp Trail Trailhead

Mosquito SwarmWe actually made two runs at this one.  As we entered the forest on our first attempt we were swarmed by mosquitoes, so we went back for some bug spray and tried again.  Tina took this picture of the mosquitoes swarming around my hat (I count at least a dozen, and that was after the bug spray).

Most of the trail is dry and covered with pine needles, but there is also a boardwalk that is a little under a quarter of a mile long that wraps around the farthest part of the loop.  The boardwalk spans a swampy portion of the trail and offers some really nice views of the of ancient cypress trees and other plants that live in this environment.

Storm DamageThe recent hurricane knocked down a couple trees along this trail.  One was along the edge of the trail, but one had actually fallen across the boardwalk and damaged it.  We didn’t have any problem climbing over the tree, and luckily the boardwalk wasn’t so bad that anything more than watching our steps was needed.

This is a nice little trail that is perfect for a little 1.5 mile nature walk while visiting the campground.  The mosquitoes were very happy to see us, and kept us company the entire way around.  Bug spray kept ‘em from biting, but they never left our side. 



Photo Gallery
More photos available in the main archive

Andy on the trailBoardwalk view-2
Trail Views
End of boardwalk
End of Boardwalk
Tree down
Tree down from Hurricane

Powered by Wikiloc

No comments: