Seabranch Preserve State Park - Visit #1

We decided to alternate heading north and south when exploring the next state park on our list. Since we finished everything we wanted to do at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, it was time to head north to Stuart to check out Seabranch Preserve State Park. Because it's a small park, this one will be a two-visit park. Today we hiked trails #1-3 (just under 6 miles combined) and we'll return to hike trail #4 later (another 3 miles or so). There was one picnic table, so we enjoyed our sandwiches there after the hike before driving home. As usual, it was a beautiful day and we quite enjoyed our little adventure.

From the small parking area we started down the paved multi-use trail - a segment of the East Coast Greenway - to the southern boundary of the park. Then we retraced our steps just a bit and started on the Swamp Trail. There were small sections of muck and a few puddles along the trail, but for being in the middle of the rainy season, it wasn't nearly as wet as we had anticipated it could be.

Once we completed the east side of the loop, we headed south on the west side. This "trail" was all along a wide, sandy road, with eight little spurs connecting to the east side, and ending back at the concrete multi-use trail. Next time we'll retrace a bit of this as we do the North Loop Trail.

Then it was time to return to the parking area via the South Loop. This one was yellow blazed. (The Swamp Trail was blue blazed.)

Along this section there were several posts identifying various plants. It wasn't always easy to tell what the labels were describing. How well do you know your Florida fauna? However, afterwards we verified that the plant with pretty yellow flowers was indeed the Coastal Plain Goldenaster (even if the plants near that particular post weren't flowering).

We're looking forward to our return visit!