Jurassic park? Land of the lost? Really it seems to fit a lot of both!
Chuluota wilderness area (CWA from this point on) is located in southeast Seminole County and at 625 acres can seem a little generic by description alone. Central Florida natural areas tend to be located in areas of pasture land, pine trees, scrub brush, very little cover except for pockets of canopy, sugar sand beautiful,? Yes but it can make one area feel like 100 others. CWA fits all of these in spots but overall is one of the nicest most varied hiking ares around.
This was my second outing to this not so little gem. I had been out a few days before to see what it was like and needed to come back for more. CWA is also a feeder park for the Florida Trail (floridatrail.org) a 1,300 mile explorers paradise that starts in the panhandle and works its way down to the everglades. Wearing vans and jeans I decided “sure why not!”
Hidden down a dead end road and next door neighbor to the Charles H. Bronson State Forest. CWA is an amazing place to get lost for the morning, or day!
The trail head is easy enough to find. Enter the park, look left. Signage is obvious. Unlike the CWA itself however the Florida trail is hiker only. So if you brought the horses or the bikes just stick with the CWA trails for the day, you will still leave happy. The Florida trail is marked on the parks map and in several places crosses over the CWA trails and at many points comes within earshot of those same trails. Eventually though it separates and you end up on your own.
Trust the map for all your needs. Paper copies are available at the bulletin board as well, and while helpful can be a little hard to read not being in color.
The hiking along the trail is easy going for even a decent walker. The biggest obstacles being roots, with gradual elevation changes in places. In February (Florida’s “dry” season) the hiking was entirely dry up until my turn around point roughly 2 miles in. The Florida Trail Association which is a volunteer group that up keeps the trail has done an amazing job keeping the trail cleared and well marked. On the entire hike the only litter I came across was a lone red bull can hidden under a tree stump.
In the short area of the trail I hiked almost all of Florida’s faces could be seen. Scrub, dry swamp, oak forest, swamp, all of it amazing to see.
After about an hour and a half I hit a 2x4 bridge that signaled a warning that things might get mucky and it was right, about 200ft passed the “bridge” I couldn’t go further without more serious hiking gear ( really have to work on getting some).
So about the tick thing?: Bring some spray and prepare yourself and loved ones for the notorious, get to know your family better “tick check” when you get home. I have been biking, hiking, camping, horseback riding, paint balling and growing up in the backwoods of Florida my whole life and I have never EVER seen the amount of ticks I saw on this hike. Crawling on my shoes, my camera (if I set it down). Like ants at a sugar factory!
Wildlife: While I went early in the morning and am quite a quiet walker, the close quarters of the trail left much to the imagination. I would often hear a deer, eagle, hawk, boar etc. to no avail as the brush and tree cover blocked almost any view passed 30 feet. I would often hear movement just in time to see a figure disappear further into the brush. Smaller song birds where everywhere, making it feel like a true rain forest!
Wildlife could be hard to capture and see, but not hard to hear. A woodpecker gives me a chance for a image.
The CWA and the portion of the Florida trail hiding inside it are both great journeys and worth the drive and time to explore. Just bring plenty of water, mud boots and bug spray. A huge credit to both Seminole County and the Florida trail association at up keeping and protecting such a beautiful place!