Tosohatchee consists 28,000 acres of pine flatwoods, palm hammocks, cypress swamps and freshwater marshes that border the St. Johns River for 19 miles in east Orange County, Florida. Visitors can come and see what is considered the largest stand of cypress forest still left uncut in the state of Florida. Over 900 acres of virgin cypress trees can be found growing along Jims Creek. Tosohatchee also has some of the oldest slash pines, some nearly 250 years old, growing near Bee Head Ranch.
Tosohatchee has quite a few old buildings. Some are still standing (barely) and others were destroyed by fire. The picture on the left shows all that's left of the old Bungy Camp located south of the Bee Line near Jims Creek. Shown on the right is a picture of an old dilapidated barn located near the end of Bee Head Road. There's a water trough located in the back and an old corral near by .
These are some of pictures of the infamous Grim Reaper's home (the Hoot Owl Inn) before it was torn down. It used to be located off the Florida Trail near the end of St. Nicholas Road. Sure had a lot of junk in it.
Pictures of the old block house located south of the Bee Line near the intersection of Spur Road and Long Bluff Road. A fire has destroyed the roof, so it's not much of a shelter anymore.
Here are some pictures of the old Hunters Lodge before a fire destroyed it. Built back in the 50s, this place had all the creature comforts you could ask for. Check out that gas range. Looks like they even had electricity even though the nearest electric pole is about 5 miles away. This building used to be located near Tiger Branch Campsite next to Fish Hole Road.
Now for those fisherman out there, Tosohatchee has several fishing spots. The most popular ones are the borrow pits just south of the Beeline. Alligators due hang around these man-made lakes, so swimming is not recommended. The picture on the left is of the borrow pit off of Long Bluff Road. Currently work is underway to improve access to this lake's shoreline. Numerous palm trees were removed along the northern edge of the lake. Just recently, this lake was widened and the fill dirt was used to resurface Long Bluff Road. Another popular spot to go fishing is at the end of Power Line Road where it meets the St. Johns River. The picture on the right was taken from that location.
In the last few years Tosohatchee has undergone a lot of major changes. There's an ongoing effort to return the land and the river system back to it's natural state. This involves removing levees and filling in canals that interfere with the flow of water back to the river. One of the first to go was Mud Lake Canal. The picture on the left shows what it looked like from a bridge crossing at the very end of the canal. Today the canal is completely gone (filled in) and native grasses have begun to grow where the canal used to be. Already nearby areas have begun to change back to their previous wetland condition. In fact, a large number of trails had to be closed or rerouted because of the changes.
The Orlando Utility Commission finally replaced the old bridges on Power Line Road. Before, you had to be extremely careful when crossing these bridges. Never mind the fact that once you got across you had to deal with 10 foot tall weeds. Now you can drive your vehicle all the way across Jims Creek Swamp without falling in it.
During the rainy season, Tosohatchee gets its share of flooding. In most cases, the management at Tosohatchee will close down roads that are flooded or too soft to drive on. For some reason, on the day I took this picture, they decided to let anybody who was crazy enough (that would be me) to drive down this road. My old 2-wheel drive Toyota pickup truck almost made it before it conked out. It never ran too well after that.
On February 22, 1998, a very powerful tornado cut through Tosohatchee before disappearing over the St. Johns River. It was the same one that killed 40 people and caused massive property damage over in Kissimmee. You can see in the picture how the winds just snapped the pine trees in half as if they were toothpicks.
If you've seen this place before, you were either lost or, if you're like me, were just exploring one of the most remote places in Tosohatchee. This is a picture of the gas line just before it crosses the St. Johns River. It's located several miles south-east of Spur Road.
