Nature Trail

Overview: The native woodland trail offers guests the ability to see natural woods and identify species native to North Central Florida.

A closer look:  This trail is meant to show people how North Central Florida woods appear in nature.  Except for the planting of mondo grass along the trails, only native species have been planted.  Plantings include Southern magnolias that were originally found in this area, but they --- and other species of magnolias --- were harvested for the manufacture of citrus crates prior to the availability of replacement nylon mesh bags shortly after World War II. Florida’s state tree, the cabbage palm, is a fixture along Kanapaha’s nature trail.  This area is a hardwood hammock (lacking softwoods or pines), having a heavy over-story of sugarberry, pignut hickory, live oak, and laurel oak trees.  This species composition is typical of those generally found in slightly elevated areas with soils of high organic content and characterized by the absence of fire.  It is also a second growth forest---a forest that has re-grown, in this case due to prior extensive timber harvesting.   

These woods will most likely never be free of exotics, but the overall goal for this area is to remove exotic plants and subsequently replace them with native.  However, virtually all Florida woods harbor exotic species, so patrons coming through the nature trail can still experience a good representation of “natural” Florida woods.