The Bear Swamp Trail provides a glimpse into the ancient forest that edged the shores of Salt Springs when botanist and explorer William Bartram visited the “amazing crystal fountain” in 1774.
This easy 1.3 mile loop is worth a visit to the recreation area in itself, as it’s a microcosm of habitats you’ll find in the Big Scrub.
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Overview
Location: Salt Springs
Length: 1.3 mile loop
Trailhead: 29.356367, -81.732083
Fees/Permits: $11 per person day use fee
Restroom: At the campground and swimming areas
Land Manager: US Forest Service
Phone: 352-625-2520
Dogs are NOT permitted at Salt Springs Recreation Area.
While they have been permitted in the past in the campground and on this trail, visitors have reported that the gate staff will not let day users bring dogs in.
Day use hours vary by season, but the recreation area opens daily at 8 AM. By camping here, you get a jump on all outdoor activities.
While the U.S. Forest Service is the land manager, the recreation area is operated by a concessionaire.
Directions
Salt Springs Recreation Area
From the Salt Springs Plaza along SR 19 in the Ocala National Forest, drive south 1/2 mile to the entrance to the Salt Springs Recreation Area on the left. Enter and pay your day use fee.
Turn left and follow the road into the campground. Turn right on the first one-way lane leading away from you. Turn right and follow the one lane road along the edge of the campground until you come to a parking area on the left. Park and walk over to the trailhead sign, next to a building that used to be a restroom.
Hike
Start by walking down to the kiosk. Turn right and keep left at the fork as you walk through a hardwood forest with hickory, dogwood, elm, and oak. Massive southern magnolias tower overhead.
As you meander along the path, elements of the Big Scrub appear, including tall, slender loblolly pines and rusty and shiny lyonia. You pass through a towering grove of loblolly pines.
At 0.6 mile, the boardwalk appears, ushering you into Bear Swamp. Birdcalls echo through the trees as you walk in dense shade.
You discover the object of this quest: an ancient cypress, close enough to touch, with a girth a good nine feet around.
Look straight up, and you can see that the crown broke off this monster of a tree, no doubt a sacrifice to a hurricane in the past.
How did this cypress survive logging? Its surface is flawed and lumpy from massive galls, which would not go well through the sawmill.
As you continue a few more feet down the boardwalk, you can see another giant cypress in the distance. It is taller and even more magnificent than the first.
Well up its trunk, it has a huge gaping crack down the center, the perfect place for an army of raccoons to hide. A branch that comes out above the hole is thicker around than the girth of any of the trees surrounding this one in the forest.
Continue a little farther to see a third ancient cypress off to the right. It’s humbling to be in the presence of such giants.
The boardwalk ends. Continue your walk through mixed hardwood and scrub forest, passing a natural “container garden” of resurrection fern atop a snag
Wander beneath the shade of lyonia, loblolly bay, and southern magnolias on the walk back to the campground, completing the loop at the kiosk at 1.3 miles. Turn right to exit.
Trail Map
Explore More
Slideshow
See our slides of the Bear Swamp Trail
Nearby Adventures
More to explore around Salt Springs.
Salt Springs Loop Savor the beauty of the Big Scrub and habitats along crystalline Salt Springs Run on this easy loop on the outskirts of Salt Springs.
Florida Trail, Salt Springs to Kerr Island 10.4 miles. Crossing a patchwork of scrub ridges and longleaf pine islands, the Florida Trail makes its way southwest of Salt Springs around Lake Kerr to The 88 Store. 
Davenport Landing Trail Deep in the Ocala National Forest, the Davenport Landing Trail provides a scenic loop to a historic landing and archaeological site along the Ocklawaha River.
Florida Trail, Kerr Island to Lake Delancy 6.4 miles. Across a mosaic of sandhills and scrub, expect black bear and scrub-jay sightings on this Florida Trail segment north of Salt Springs.
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