Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve , 1001 Old Rock Road, Yankeetown, FL 34498
This is a great place to spend half a day or so if you’re in the area of Yankeetown and Inglis, and there’s no admission fee! This 413-acre property was purchased with a grant from the Florida Community Trust. Further grants from Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program, Felburn Foundation, Southwest Florida Water Management District and Friends of the Withlachoochee Gulf Preserve have provided for development of the Preserve land and infrastructure. Since 2009, the Preserve has provided wonderful experiences for visitors.
Even before we entered the park, we noticed Florida Honeysuckle growing by the sign. We’ve visited before, but never really dug in to explore. On this trip, our primary purpose was to get to know this Preserve a little better.
Near the main entrance, a boardwalk leads to a beautiful salt pond. The opportunities for photography and bird watching are plentiful. Heading to the back of the Preserve, hiking trails lead you to and through a mixed forest habitat with hardwoods, cedar, pine, cabbage palm and more. Just a few steps off the trail is a beautiful estuarine system of marshes.
One of my favorite things about this preserve is that Coral Bean, Erythrina herbacea, is everywhere. This native plant is one of my favorites. The color is so vivid and the “beans” are so cool! This time, I was able to see how the beans form out of the bloom. While this photo is blurred, you can see the green “beans” forming out of the reddish flower.
The preserve has a beautiful education center, but it has never been open during our visits. I’d love to take a class here, although I think the view from the second story windows would be a huge distraction. Every room looks out over either the marsh or a hardwood hammock where we wandered on a shady trail.
A short walk from the education center, there’s a nice hard path leading to the observation tower. We’ve never ventured farther down the path than the tower before, but on this trip, we continued along the path and explored the water’s edge a bit. We could tell the tide was really rushing in – it was impressive how quickly the water moved. Previously, we’ve only been here at a slack tide and the difference is remarkable. We found a spot where it looked like someone may have dumped some old kitchen equipment. The innards of an old gas stove were rusting on the ground. Along the path, fiddler crabs were numerous and raced away or down into their holes as we approached, except for this one. He could comfortably fit on a dime, but he raised that big red claw at us and wasn’t going to budge! The entire path was covered in tiny sandy pellets that the crabs create as they dig their burrows.
Nearing the end of the path, we began to notice flies. We had doused ourselves in bug spray but of course, flies laugh at bug spray. It’s really funny – there was this one area where the flies were really bad; I nearly RAN out! In other places, they were not evident at all. We spend most of our time in the other places, thank goodness. We were lucky that these flies did not bite. . .but they were a world-class annoyance!
At the end of the hard path, we found a small dock with a kayak/canoe launch at the end. It’s a tidal research station! I’d love to know what research they do (even at play, I can find something to research!). Signage on-site indicated that the difference between low- and high tide can be up to five feed on a given day.
As we walked back to the observation tower, we noticed echo moth caterpillars. These look a bit like wooly bear caterpillars, but they eat really tough plants like Florida coontie. We climbed to the top of the observation tower and got a great view of the beautiful estuary. By this time, the tide was nearly slack but you could still see movement. From up on the tower, you could really get a sense of the volume of water that moves in and out of this estuary every day.
Returning home, we stopped at Winding River Garden, a small Yankeetown park just across the street from where we stay when we visit. We immediately noticed lots of pollination activity in the garden. Bumblebees and large black metallic bees were at work in the pentas. The water was very high – right up to the bottom of the small dock. Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars were working on the water hemlock – although the leaves are lethal for humans, caterpillars of the swallowtail are able to detoxify the chemicals that make these plants dangerous for people.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the porch, reading together and listening to bird song. On River Road, you will often see families walking their dogs or riding through on golf carts. It is not uncommon to hear the voices of friends who have crossed paths at the park or children at play there. It is amazingly peaceful and restorative to relax on the porch with something cold to drink and a good book.
And yet. . .the same river which provides a peaceful spot to visit can be destructive. As we travel through the neighborhood daydreaming about what it would be like to live here, there are signs of the power of the Withlacoochee when it is not calm. At several points on Riverside Road, there are municipal markers to show the depth of water when the river is flooding. Looking at real estate listings also indicates that the river is not just a pretty face but a major force – many photos of flood-ravaged interiors explain the wide variation in pricing of properties here.
But on this day, the river was calm and beautiful and we felt privileged to be a part of the quiet afternoon in this quiet town on Florida’s Nature Coast. There’s not a better place to plan a day of kayaking on the river out to the Withlachoochee Bay.