Remnants of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, ancient dunes that once marked the oceanfront in Southeastern Florida, pop up now and again in the most unexpected places.
Blazing Star Preserve is one of those spots. It’s in the thick of an older residential community in Boca Raton, so it’s downright puzzling that it survived decades of development that surround it.
Being next to Interstate 95 probably helped. Perhaps the land was once slated for a retention pond, or an off-ramp. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
This slender slice of the ridge, 26 acres in all, offers a bounty of scrub forest atop sparkling white sand, and a mile-long loop to explore it.
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Overview
Location: Boca Raton
Length: 1 mile
Trailhead: 26.344462, -80.119093
Address: 1751 W Camino Real, Boca Raton
Fees: Free
Restroom: None
Land manager: City of Boca Raton
Phone: 561-338-1473
Open 8 AM to sunset. No pets. Parking is very limited.
Directions
From Interstate 95, exit at Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton and head west for half a mile to Military Trail. Turn left and drive half a mile, passing the entrance to Sugar Sand Park. Turn left onto Camino Real and drive 0.7 mile to the preserve entrance and parking lot on the left. If you go under the interstate overpass, you’ve missed the turn.
Hike
The trail starts at a kiosk with information about the Atlantic Coastal Ridge and scrub habitats, and a map of the trail system. Two stacked loops offer a half-mile or mile-long walk in the scrub forest atop the flattened remains of ancient dunes.
Not much sand pine scrub forest remains in this part of the state, since the well-drained sands were popular for development. The trail is mostly in the open. Drawing close to the western boundary of the preserve, catch a glimpse of train tracks.
These separate this forest from adjacent Sugar Sand Park. A trail junction to the right heads towards the interstate. Continue straight. After 0.2 miles, pass a bench. Curve left away from it, out into more open scrub.
The broad footpath works its way into the thick of the scrub forest, with diminutive sand live oaks, myrtle oak, and Chapman oak on both sides forming a dense, impenetrable thicket that you can see over.
The bleached bones of sand pine snags, likely the victims of hurricanes, stand out against the blue sky, with slash pines poking up between them and silver-hued saw palmetto.
This variant of saw palmetto is mainly found on ancient sands such as these that make up the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, and offers a different tint to the landscape; it dominates the understory here. Cicadas and crickets keep up a constant chatter.
Slash pines and sand pines, the latter distinct with its softer needles and small, tightly closed cones, rise out of this thicket to provide tiny patches of shade.
As the trail meanders through the dense understory look down to notice the little things, like the fetterbush with its rusty tips, or the prickly pear cactus, or the Florida rosemary with its dark green needles.
In several spots, gopher tortoises have been chewing their way through the low grasses; you may see evidence of tracks, or the opening to a burrow. It’s the little things that count when exploring a sliver of wilderness in an urban setting.
Chief among them here is the namesake of the preserve, blazing star (Liatris), unmistakable tall, slender stalks that show off purple blooms in late summer and fall.
At 0.3 mile, reach a trail junction. Turn left. A bromeliad clings to a small oak tree in this desert-like environment, sporting fading blooms.
Running down another straightaway of scrub, the trail enters a patch of shade provided by a small oak hammock and tall slash pines, with bracken fern peeping up from the pine straw. A five-lined race runner slips quickly into the leaf litter.
There is a marked descent in elevation as you head towards the back corner of the preserve, and the scrub forest yields to a dense, tall thicket of Brazilian pepper, which we hope was slated for removal.
In the meantime, it provides shade as the trail zigzags through it, past woodlands phlox and more bracken fern.
The footpath may be moist underfoot as you reach the back fence of the preserve, along the railroad tracks, and start on the return loop after 0.5 mile, with southern marsh ferns and cinnamon ferns growing in the damp spots.
Rising out of the Brazilian pepper, you’re back in the scrub again and adjacent to a ramp along I-95. It’s pretty noisy, and remains that way as you work your way back along the loop.
Lantana grows in huge clumps, and love vine clambers up some of the trees on your right. Grapevines seek to smother the understory scrub plants.
To get away from the traffic noise, and return on the route you came in on, take the first right and you’ll loop back around to the second trail junction.
You can also walk the full outer loop, staying within sight and sound of the Interstate, and it also works its way to the front entrance through a stand of slash pines, emerging at the first trail junction.
Either way, a walk to the end of the preserve and back takes a mile.
Explore More!
Slideshow
See our photos from this hike
Nearby Adventures
Sugar Sand Park In Boca Raton, the trails at Sugar Sand Park radiate from a nature center and playground surrounded by the remains of a coastal scrub and pine flatwoods in this urbanized area.
Pondhawk Natural Area A 79-acre expanse of pine flatwoods and scrub near the Spanish River in Boca Raton, Pondhawk Natural Area spans the Atlantic Coastal Ridge.
Yamato Scrub Natural Area Meander a mazy route through a scrub forest fronting Interstate 95 in Boca Raton for colorful wildflowers and a wetland area for birding.
Serenoa Glade Preserve Atop one of the higher elevations in Boca Raton, Serenoa Glade Preserve is a rare undeveloped piece of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge with both scrub and pine flatwoods habitats. 
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