Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve- Garden of Eden
Trail
Located in the
Apalachicola ravines region in Florida, the Apalachicola
Bluffs and Ravines Preserve protects one of the few areas
where steephead ravines exist. Steephead ravines are unique
plants and animals, some found nowhere else on earth. The
region is biologically unique to Florida and is home to many
species more commonly found in the Appalachian
Mountains.
A 3.5-mile, round-trip, self-guided trail
takes you through an enchanting area that local legend claims
is the original Garden of Eden. Beginning in longleaf
pine/wiregrass uplands, the trail soon skirts the top of a
dramatic steephead, descends the slope forest to cross a
steephead stream, climbs up through sandhills, and eventually
opens to a spectacular view from a bluff 135 feet above the
Apalachicola River. This trail is very strenuous, with steep
climbs and descents.
The preserve also protects two of
the world's rarest evergreens, the Florida Torreya and Florida
Yew. There are yews along the botanical loop trail, but there
are no longer live torreyas visible from the trail. Other
plants of interest are the large-leaved, large-flowered ashe;
pyramid magnolias; Florida anise; mountain laurel; oak leaf
hydrangea; spring ephemerals, such as trillium and wild
ginger; Gholson's blazing star; ferns; and an array of
fall-blooming sandhill wildflowers and grasses, including
toothed basil and lopsided Indiangrass.
The preserve
provides a home to several species of resident and migrating
birds including bald eagles, Mississippi kites, swallow-tailed
kites, wild turkeys, worm-eating warblers, hooded warblers and
Swainson's warblers. By the streams along the bottom of the
ravines, you might catch a glimpse of Apalachicola dusky
salamanders and fire-back crayfish. Common upland species
include cottontail rabbits, white-tailed deer, six-lined race
runners, wild turkeys, gopher tortoises and various snakes,
including the eastern diamondback rattlesnake. Some visitors
may spot an eastern indigo snake or a Sherman's fox
squirrel.
Major Activities: Hiking
Trail Length/Surface:
3.5-miles/unpaved trail
Fee: None
County: Liberty
Nearby
Cities:
Bristol and Tallahassee
Notes:
For
your safety, please observe trail signs at Alum Bluff and stay well
back from the edge as you follow the orange blazed trail along the
river bluff. The bluff is an active slide area and abandoned
sections of trail are badly undercut and prone to
collapse.
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