Choose Your Own Adventure — Hiking

By Shannon McAleenan

You cannot compare hiking in St. Augustine to mountain hiking – what are you trying to do, compare apples and risotto?

And while you may be battling muddy puddles instead of steep inclines, Sunshine State treks can still be rewarding.

Among the many places to hike in this area is Faver-Dykes State Park. Just south of the US-1 and I-95 intersection, you’ll see Faver-Dykes Road, a sandy, bumpy little jaunt, which will deposit you right where you need to be to do, well, lots of stuff. Two half-mile nature trails loop around the park, offering vistas of the scrub around Pellicer Creek, hardwood hammocks and pine flatwoods. If half a mile is just a little too short for your hiking taste, then take note – there are several miles of backwoods boundary roads and trails also available, all connecting off the main trails or roads.

At Faver-Dykes, the emphasis is on education. All along the nature trails are small signs, telling you a little about the type of palm tree or lichen moss wavering in front of you. After the nature trail, lunch. The picnic area is right on the banks of Pellicer Creek, a calming place if there ever was one. Check for cormorants drying their wings in the classic Titanic pose atop a craggly tree in the middle of the swamp. Canoeing is also available at Faver-Dykes. For more info, check out floridastateparks.org/faver-dykes/.

STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW

Where: All over! Visit www.co.st-johns.fl.us/BCC/Land_Management/LAMP/media/SJC_GBT/recommendations.pdf for a master trail plan. Also, each hiking site has a printable online brochure with trail maps. For hardcore views and a sweaty good time, hike the Moses Creek conservation area.

Gear: Sneakers. Sunscreen. Bug spray. Water. For men, real undies (trust me, you’ll want to avoid finding a tick in a most inopportune location).

Cash: None for the conservation areas. Faver-Dykes, like all state parks, requires a $3 entry fee, only theirs is voluntary. Do it. Feel good about yourself.

Top Secret: Bring your camera. Mid-way through the east trail at Moses Creek, you’ll want to snap some shots of the low swamp forest, complete with osprey nests. Keep your head up – you might get rewarded with a sweet shot of an osprey flying over head with a fish in its talons.

Beyond the state park system, several conservation areas maintained by the St. Johns River Water Management District offer up ample hiking. My personal favorite: Moses Creek. On a recent warm Saturday, I ventured out for another sneakered-spree down the trails. There are two trailheads, both off State Road 206. The east trailhead leads you to White Blaze Trail and the west trailhead puts you on the Yellow Blaze Trail. All trailheads and turns are marked by either yellow or white diamonds. And keep your eye out for them. I stumbled upon a tired (and presumably stoned) middle-aged hippie couple who reported not paying attention, getting lost and walking almost 8 miles. But they were still holding hands. So cute.

I took the east trail. Aside from almost crapping my pants after a bobcat prowled next to me for 15 minutes (OK, like 5 seconds), the nature experiences were all pleasant. The east trail leads you 1.35 miles to a bluff observation point. If you’re craving mountains, here’s as close as Northeast Florida gets to a cliff. And it’s just as beautiful. There’s even a nice little wooden bench to perch your tired buns upon while you take in the view. If you’re feeling daring, risk the sideways trail down the bluff to the water. I wasn’t and didn’t, but it looked wild and mountainous.

If you take the west trail, you’ll have two options. After about a mile, you can pick up the red trail, which leads to camping, a risky, unfiltered water pump and ultimately Murat Point, another scenic panorama of Moses Creek. This will take you awhile, as the red trail adds another 3.7 miles if you go all the way to Murat Point. The shorter, less out-of-breath option is to follow the yellow trail to the bluff. For more info on the Moses Creek conservation area, visit sjr.state.fl.us/recreationguide/n10/index.html.