Camp Chowenwaw Park

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Camp Chowenwaw Park sits north of Green Cove Springs where Peters Creek meets Black Creek, and it has been protected woodland since the 1930s. Crews working through the Depression built the camp out of what grew on the property: felled pines became log cabins, cypress was split into shingles, and magnolia was turned into furniture. Big Cabin, an Adirondack-style lodge, is still the center of the place and has been renovated without losing its old character. Because the forest was never cut after that, the hardwood hammock has had ninety years to grow. About two miles of connected nature trails run through it. The Jungle Trail is the oldest, carrying a long boardwalk over swamp to an observation deck on Black Creek. The Treehouse Trail is a boardwalk through floodplain forest along Peters Creek. The Hickory Trail loops through higher ground past the camping areas, under tall magnolias and pines. People still sleep here: tent sites, cabins in named clusters such as Squirrel Run, Ahwenassa and Big Pine Shores, and screened treehouses on stilts for sleeping up in the canopy. A history museum in a restored cabin opens the third Saturday of each month from 9 to 11, or by appointment. The park is open daily from 8 in the morning until sunset, and leashed dogs are welcome on the trails