South Easement Road

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Because of the presence of large predator animals in the area, it is best not to run these trails alone.

This old lime-rock road was originally built to provide access to an oil well located on lands south of the preserve. The first third of the road has deteriorated into a dirt track and can be challenging for street vehicles. This road has two small marked parking areas for access to trails including the Black Bear Berm, Tuscawilla and Sunflower Trace Trails.

Even if the preserve is wet and other trails are flooded, the South Easement Road Trail is reliably dry and open to running at most any time. This trail provides gorgeous vista views over the marsh areas and is home to lots of wildlife, including bear, deer, turkey, panther, and wild hog. The trail, which is also a vehicle access road for the adjoining property owner, is mostly sunny and in the open. Wetlands border the trail on both sides, and it is raised slightly, making the long views possible. Visitors can run down and back, which takes about 1 hour or access the other intersecting trails for a longer run.

The trail traverses upland forests of oak and cabbage palm, wetland forests of mixed hardwoods, and open depression marshes. Wildlife cameras routinely capture the presence of panther, bear, deer, wild hogs, and turkey.