A collection of named trails across a human-altered landscape, the South Trails at Alligator Lake Park delve into cypress strands and marshes.
Both edged the original footprint of Alligator Lake south of downtown Lake City. Draining produced farmland, which was reclaimed once the park opened.
The trails start south of the open space near the trailheadThe trail map posted at the trailhead doesn’t make it plain that the “airboat crossing” on the Egret Loop Trail is a break in the levee making it impossible to loop.
Other breaks throughout the trail system are marked as bridged. The proposed section of the boardwalk shown has not been built.
Unexpected end of trailResources
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Overview
Location: Lake City
Length: Up to 4.3 miles
Trailhead: 30.166803, -82.615452
Address: 420 SE Alligator Glen, Lake City
Fees: Free
Restroom: At the trailhead
Land manager: Columbia County
Phone: 386-719-7545
Closed Mon. Open Tue-Sun at 8 AM, closing 7 PM during Daylight Savings Time, 5:30 PM otherwise. Trails open to cyclists.
No dogs permitted. Alligator warnings abound with good reason; do not let small children near the water.
Directions
Take Interstate 75 exit 427, Lake City. Follow US 90 east for 2.4 miles to SW Baya Drive (SR 10A). Turn right. Follow Baya Drive for 2.6 miles, crossing US 41 and US 441 before you reach the traffic light at SE Country Club Road. Turn right and drive 1.2 miles to the park entrance, on the right. Park at the second trailhead, the larger one between the restrooms, pole barn pavilion, and fishing pond.
Hike
Facing the screened picnic pavilion with the lake beyond a ribbon of marsh, make a left. A kiosk adjoins the restrooms with an overview map.
Walk past the playground to the dirt road leading to treeline, where a Deer Trail sign pointing into the woods confirms you’re on the right path.
At the next junction, a right starts down the Montgomery Trail. Continue straight ahead.
South Trails junctionA grassy path traverses an open pasture-like area with scattered clusters of large oaks and pines.
Meet the Eagle Trail 0.4 miles from the parking area at a T intersection at Marker 11. Turn left.
Eagle TrailA levee with a dark ditch paralleling it, the Eagle Trail is raised above a floodplain forest that was roughed up by the 2024 hurricanes.
Cypresses emerge from both sides of the leaf-strewn path, the dark water covered in duckweed.
At a four-way junction with the Capybara Trail at Marker 12, continue onto the Willow Pond Trail at 0.7 mile.
The ditch reflects the trees above, a stand of pines paralleling it.
Trail junctionTurning a corner, enter an oak hammock. A bridge over the ditch leads to a short loop around Willow Pond.
Continue beneath the oaks and pines into floodplain forest again, with a surprising opening at Country Club Rd with a hard right.
Willow Pond bridgeA culvert beneath the road conveys Price Creek under a bridge in an open grassy area at 1.2 miles.
The Willow Pond Trail wiggles along the southern perimeter fence of the park. Round a back gate before returning to the floodplain.
At the junction where the Capybara Trail comes in from the right, the Willow Trail ends.
Bridge over Price CreekFed by Price Creek, a grassy wetland stretches beyond the trees on the right. Continue straight ahead as the Capybara Trail becomes the outer path along this loop.
Broad and speckled with fallen leaves, it’s a straightaway under tall oaks, pines, and sweetgum, with saw palmetto filling in the forest floor.
Capybara TrailBy 2.1 miles, meet the Possum Trot Trail. Although there is more hiking due west of this intersection in the Rogers Dike Area, the Egret Loop Trail isn’t a loop.
There’s a critical gap in it for an airboat crossing, requiring backtracking on both sides of the “loop.”
A round-trip to the north side of the gap is a real adventure. After crossing a bridge, make a right at the T.
Bridge crossingDon’t go north by accident along the levee to proposed future route to the boardwalk (as we did) but follow a levee west.
Running along the south edge of an ancient cypress strand, the Egret Loop turns south along the southern end of Alligator Lake.
Egret LoopLined by cypresses with swaying Spanish moss, it ends abruptly at the cut where airboats cross, 0.6 mile from the Possum Trot junction.
Return to to the Possum Trot junction the way you came, adding 1.6 miles to your overall hike.
Possum Trot south junctionMake a right here at Marker 16, leaving the Capybara Trail to head towards Alligator Lake. A touch of floodplain forest yields to oak hammock.
Pass the west end of the Eagle Trail at Marker 10 in a tenth of a mile. The Possum Trot Trail narrows significantly, rising up to reach the Montgomery Trail at 2.5 miles.
Possum Trot north junctionTurn right to exit to the trailhead via a left at the Deer Trail for a 2.7 mile hike, or 4.3 miles including the outing into the Rogers Dike Area.
Or turn left and tackle the Montgomery Trail for a 5.7 mile hike, 7.3 miles including the round-trip along the Egret Loop.
Exiting towards the Deer TrailTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Alligator Lake Park
Alligator Lake Park In the city once called Alligator, Alligator Lake has long been a gathering place. Loop it on a levee on a spectacularly showy hike beneath moss-draped cypresses.Slideshow
See our photos from the South Trails
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