PARKS & OUTDOORS
Welaka State Forest
Putnam County · North Florida & First Coast
A 2,287-acre state forest on the east bank of the St. Johns River above Welaka, with a short trail to a boil in the woods.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
The forest covers 2,287 acres upstream from the town of Welaka along the eastern bank of the St. Johns River, managed by the Florida Forest Service. It is a working forest rather than a park, which means prescribed burning, timber management and a hunting season, and it is quieter than a state park for that reason. The Mud Spring Trail is the short walk most visitors take: a loop of a bit over a mile through hardwood hammock to a spring boil sitting in the woods, dark and clear at the same time. John's Landing Trail runs longer, out toward the river through flatwoods and swamp, with primitive campsites for anyone walking it through. Mount Royal stands next to the forest, a ceremonial mound the naturalist William Bartram described in the 1770s when he came up this river. Deer, turkey, gopher tortoise, bald eagles and a long list of woodland birds live here
Keep comparing