Old Trail Notes

• 31-Jan-2004: Fees have all gone up a buck since the beginning of the year. White blazed hiking trails are in excellent condition. No water on the trails except at the very end of Swamp Spur. Perfect time of the year to go hiking. No bugs!
• 18-Nov-2002: Created a new Geocache site at the end of the trail near Taylor Creek.
• 11-Nov-2002: The FTA has recently lopped and reblazed the trails south of SR 520. I followed up and tried to fill in some of the craters left behind by wild pigs rooting for grubs. Also mowed the white blazed trail and the area around the trailhead. It was looking kind of shaggy. Saw an amazing thing while I was hiking the trails.  Heard a noise that sounded like an armadillo digging around in the leaves. Turned out it was a 6-foot alligator walking (not crawling) through the woods. Guess he was looking for a new water hole. Never seen anything like that before. Also saw my first yellow jacket nest. It was located at the base of a palm tree right next to the trail. Luckily the bees didn't seem to be bothered by my presence. 

• 08-Jun-2002: The Hoot Owl Hilton was torn down after park authorities learned it was being used by vagrants. I'll miss that old building. It had a lot of character.  The Youth Camp has been relocated to the other side of St. Nicholas Road.  Pine beetles and the risk of following dead trees caused the old site to be closed down. 
• 03-Feb-2002: Created a new Geocache site over by the old Bee Head Ranch complex.
• 01-Jan-2002: Road to the Youth Camp has been temporarily closed. Looks like it's due to pine trees being harvested in that area. Noticed a lot of hoof prints on the Florida Trail. The ground was softened up in a few places but it wasn't too bad.  Lots of dead fall on the trail down by Jim Creek. Not much fun if you're biking through this area. 

• 04-Nov-2001: According to a sign at the entrance, all trails are still very wet and Fish Hole Road is closed due to flooding. A new revised trail map is now available at the entrance. It shows the trail section north of Tootoosahatchee Creek is now closed to bicyclist and horseback riders but the east-west trail along Powerline Road is now open to all trail users. The map also indicates horse trailer parking is now available at the Beeline overpass and at a designated parking area along Fish Hole Road. 
• 19-Aug-2001: No trail report on account of the mosquitoes being so bad. Fish Hole Road is closed from Beehead Road to Long Bluff Road due to flooding. Except for a few wet spots, the roads were in great shape for bike riding.
• 20-Jun-2001:  I lost count but there must have been over 20 dead pine trees (casualties from the 1998 wildfires) lying across the trail between Beehead Road and Jims Creek. This is one area you don't want to get caught in during a wind storm. The old trail section south of Jims Creek as been rerouted and it now comes out onto Fish Hole Road near the Beeline (SR 528) overpass. Nice job!  With all this rain we've been getting, amazingly there is no standing water on the trails. Even Jims Creek is bone dry.
• 11-Mar-2001:  I got a chance to checked out the trail section south of State Road 520. The trail is in excellent condition. There is some tree harvesting going on near the trail head.  Even though the trail officially ends at Taylor Creek, you can still get to the abandon  trail sections on the other side of the creek.  On the  day I was out there, the creek was bone dry and you could just walk across it.  The old flimsy rope bridge has been removed. Now there's a makeshift bridge made out of fallen trees and tie raps. I doubt it will be there after the next rainy season. The abandoned Taylor Creek Campsite is still in pretty good condition.  The pump is capped off so you can't get water at this location anymore.  Besides being a little overgrown, the abandon trail is still hike able all the way to the St. Johns River.  While hiking back to the parking area, I decided to check out what was left of the old levee that used to run along the St . Johns River  between SR520 and the SR528. Years ago the Florida Trail used to follow this levee before it was bulldozed away.   There's an "unofficial" ATV trail running along where the levee used to be. It's looks like it may go all the way to SR528.  I think I'll come back later with my mountain bike and check it out.

• 18-Feb-2001:  Another great day at Tosohatchee. This time I started out hiking north from Power Line Road (that's where this picture was taken) and would end up in Seminole Ranch (about 6 miles away and 3 hours later).  I checked out Hoot Owl Hilton along the way and got some pictures of the inside (see above).  Tosohatchee Creek is completely dry right now. The trail registration box at the North Gate still hasn't been replaced since the last fire that destroyed it. 

• 17-Feb-2001:  All sections of the Florida Trail in Tosohatchee are in excellent condition. The new trail route to Yates Road should be a welcome relief to through hikers.  You just have to watch out for some of the dogs that live along that road (the owner's don't believe in leashes).  For the Florida Hands Across The Trail (F-HATT) event, I had a chance to check out the trail section along State Road 520. I could not find any blaze marks between State Road 528 and James Creek Road.  From James Creek Road to Taylor Creek Road the blazes are visible but the trail is overgrown.