The best place to hike near Seagrove?

[musiclover]

Hi, I'll be down there next week, and I wanted to find out the best place to hike in the Seagrove area. I know there's supposed to be lots of trails, but I'm wondering what the prettiest, most scenic hike would be. The only trail heads that I know of are down the road from the Publix, but I haven't actually walked there yet. I have seen pictures of nature trails behind Cassine Garden, but I'm not sure where the best place is to access them. We will also have bikes, but they don't do very well in the sand, as we found out, so we have to stick to the bike path for that. I like the look of the pictures I've seen of the trails behind Cassine with bridges over ponds and all that, but I couldn't tell how to get to them. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[Douglas the Intrepid]

Hi, I'll be down there next week, and I wanted to find out the best place to hike in the Seagrove area. I know there's supposed to be lots of trails, but I'm wondering what the prettiest, most scenic hike would be. The only trail heads that I know of are down the road from the Publix, but I haven't actually walked there yet. I have seen pictures of nature trails behind Cassine Garden, but I'm not sure where the best place is to access them. We will also have bikes, but they don't do very well in the sand, as we found out, so we have to stick to the bike path for that. I like the look of the pictures I've seen of the trails behind Cassine with bridges over ponds and all that, but I couldn't tell how to get to them. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Depends on how serious of a hike your looking to get into. I would recommend the Eastern Lake loop for the Point Washington Forest Trails. You can actually access it from the Seagrove beach side, but I don't recommend it as it has tons of sidepaths before you get to the real trailhead. There is a parking spot on 395 to access the trails directly which would make the most sense for you perhaps.

http://www.fl-dof.com/state_forests/sf_pdf/trail_walker_trotter_maps/point_washington_tw.pdf

http://www.waltonoutdoors.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/eastlk.jpg

 

[musiclover]

Thanks, I appreciate the info. When you say you can access it from 395, is that the Point Washington State Forest parking lot down the road from the Publix? Looks like we can choose between the 3.5, 5.75 or 10 mile loops. If you just do the 3.5, will you go over some bridges and water and see some Cypress trees? I guess you would probably need wide tires if you wanted to ride your bike as opposed to walk it.

 

[lerxst]

Hi, I'll be down there next week, and I wanted to find out the best place to hike in the Seagrove area. I know there's supposed to be lots of trails, but I'm wondering what the prettiest, most scenic hike would be. The only trail heads that I know of are down the road from the Publix, but I haven't actually walked there yet. I have seen pictures of nature trails behind Cassine Garden, but I'm not sure where the best place is to access them. We will also have bikes, but they don't do very well in the sand, as we found out, so we have to stick to the bike path for that. I like the look of the pictures I've seen of the trails behind Cassine with bridges over ponds and all that, but I couldn't tell how to get to them. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Cassine Garden trail can be accessed by entering cassine garden, then go right and travel counterclockwise around Cassine circle, (it will make a loop) the trail head access is on the right between the townhomes just past the cypress swamp trail; essentially this trail is the "back" door to Eastern Lake loop trail accessed on 395. You can bike a significant portion of it with no loose sand to encounter.
Very scenic and you will see the Eastern lakes source point. Watch for snakes as it is getting warmer here. Enjoy.