A friend and I agreed to meet early one morning to drive through the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. Talk about a comedy of errors! First, we planned our adventure for a day that the Drive is closed. Next, the park where we were to meet has closed the part of the park that allows access to the trail we had hoped to walk on. But we found that the St. Johns Water Management District had already come up with a solution that really worked in our favor, and if you click the link you will find that we needn’t have gone stumbling blindly around, because the WMD works hard to get us the information we need.
The Wildlife Drive, just one portion of Lake Apopka Northshore Recreation Area, is open to vehicular traffic Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We did not know the hours were so limited! However, because the Magnolia Park Trail Head is closed due to redevelopment of the boat ramp at Magnolia Park, a bicycle gate has been installed at the Lust Road entrance to the Wildlife Drive, a temporary parking area has been built, and bicycles and pedestrians are now able to use the trail Monday – Thursday! We have both long admired the photography that is shared on the Drive’s Facebook page. Had we thought to check this page, we would have learned about the new parking area and gate. Be that as it may, we were among the first people to take advantage of this new benefit.
Birds!
If I had to choose one word to describe the experience, it would be BIRDS! Birds on the land, birds in the water, birds in the air. Stunning blue herons, tricolor herons, little blues, egrets, ducks, ibises, gallinules, coots, grackles, finches of many varieties…there is no end to the bird life you will see whether walking or driving. in 1998, the Christmas Bird Count identified 174 species of birds! This is the highest count of inland species in the 119 year history of the Count. You can download a list of the 369 species seen at this preserve here.
Choose a Trail
Once you enter the preserve, there are several blazed trails. Which trail you use will likely depend on where you enter. If you enter at Clay Island Trailhead in Astatula, where the Clay Island trail loop provides a 7.2 mile hike, blazed with white. On this trail, you can see the Lakeside and Flow-Way Towers and will pass the Pump Station Kiosk. At Jimmy’s Crossing, you can take a two mile spur trail to the Green Mountain Trailhead (which is another entrance to the Lake Apopka North Shore.
If you enter at the North Shore Trailhead at the McDonald Canal Boat Ramp, there’s a 2.6 mile loop trail blazed with red. At the beginning point of the loop, you can also choose to take a 1 mile yellow blazed trail to the south. When you reach the Duda Kiosk, you can choose between the 2.3 mile trail heading west and south to the connection with the Clay Island trail OR the 10.5 mile Lake Apopka Loop Trail which will connect with the Wildlife Drive near the Lake Spur Kiosk.
A Lovely Four Mile Walk
Maribeth and I entered the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive at the entrance at 2850 Lust Road. We had originally planned to drive to the Historic Pump House and then hike along the lakeshore. Since the Drive was closed to vehicular traffic, we simply hiked up Lust Road two miles to the Pump House and then back. It was chilly when we started, and we both commented on the lack of alligators. The hardpack road made for easy hiking, and we stopped several times to admire water birds and plants we saw along the way. When we reached the Pump House, Maribeth pointed out a gorgeous Common Yellowthroat. I misunderstood what she was pointing at and instead noticed a large gator hanging out on a small island across from the Pump House. We enjoyed both of these sightings. On our way back to the car, we saw three more gators, all sluggish in the cool morning, but none of which we would like to tangle with.
Other hikers were friendly, and we exchanged notes on what we had observed on the trail. I hope that the Water Management District will decide to permanently open the area to pedestrians and bicyclists when it is closed to automobile traffic.
Future blog posts will highlight observations at the North Shore trailhead, McDonald Canal Boat Ramp, and Clay Island trailhead.