It’s the trees that catch your attention at Bulow Creek State Park, from the canopied road leading to the park to the imposing Fairchild Oak standing guard near the main entrance.
To immerse deeper in the ancient Bulow Hammock, walk the trails beneath its old-growth trees from any of three trailheads.
Swampy palm hammockAlong the ridge above its namesake creek, springs bubble freshwater that feed extensive swamp forests.
In a low swale bisected by Walter Boardman Ln, the mudflats of salty Boardman Pond provide a feeding ground for birds in a primordial setting.
Boardman PondResources
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Overview
Location: Ormond Beach
Trailhead: 29.387667,-81.132183
Address: 3351 Old Dixie Highway, Ormond Beach
Fees: free
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 386-676-4050
Open 8 AM to sunset daily. Leashed pets welcome. Bicycles permitted.
Additional access points for day hiking, biking, and paddling are along Walter Boardman Road and a trailhead along the entry road to Bulow Plantation Ruins State Park.
Directions
The park is along “The Loop,” a popular scenic drive along the coast of northern Volusia County. Look for the entrance on the east side of the road north of James Ormond Park. To reach it from Interstate 95 take Old Dixie Hwy exit 278. Follow it east past the Publix shopping center and around the sharp curve, passing Walter Boardman Ln. The entrance is on the left, two miles from the interstate.
About the Park
The showpiece at the park’s main entrance is the Fairchild Oak, a giant among giants in Bulow Hammock, thought to be more than 2,000 years old.
Its limbs are so thick they curve in crazy directions and embed themselves in the ground. It would take at least eight people holding hands to circle its trunk.
The Fairchild OakPreserved by Portland Cement Company at the behest of botanist David Fairchild, it’s one of many giants of this ancient forest.
To explore deeper into Bulow Hammock, you need to take to its trails, most notably along the yellow blazes.
A massive live oak along the Bulow Woods TrailRestrooms and picnic tables anchor the southern trailhead at the main entrance. It provides direct access to Bulow Creek Trail and the Wahlin Trail.
A small centrally-located parking area is along Walter Boardman Lane, and a northern trailhead is along the entrance road to Bulow Plantation Ruins State Park.
Picnic area at the main entranceHiking
Only 0.4 mile long, the interpretive Wahlin Trail branches off to the right within sight of the clearing past where a 1915 land office once stood.
It leads along the high ground of the forest to its very edge, where it drops off into the swamps.
The Wahlin Trail loses elevation quicklyAlong a natural ridge, a bubbling freshwater spring flows out of the hillside while the aroma of a sea breeze is all around you.
A boardwalk curves along where the spring feeds the floodplain to offer a better perspective.
Sulfur spring poolSignposted as the Fairchild Oak Trail at this end, the Bulow Creek Trail is a 6.8 mile linear hike traversing the length of this state park.
It ends at a northern trailhead just outside the pay station for the day use area at Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park.
Unfortunately, the bridge along the trail at Cisco Ditch has been damaged for quite a few years. Without it, you cannot walk between the parks.
Southern trailhead at the main entranceThe walk is gentle south of Walter Boardman Lane, two miles of following forest roads through the grandeur of this mighty oak hammock.
It crosses a causeway over a waterway flowing towards Bulow Creek before turning north again through pine flatwoods.
At the road crossing, you can turn around for a four-mile hike. A small roadside parking area is within sight of this gate.
North of Walter Boardman Lane, an easy 0.7 mile round-trip to Boardman Pond is a must for birders.
Observation deck with bird identification signThe Bulow Creek Trail continues past that observation deck into woods that become wetter north of Cisco Ditch.
A loop ventures east beyond the ditch for a walk through habitats with views of the marshy Bulow Creek basin.
Bulow Creek as glimpsed from the loopAs the loop ends, the trail gets wilder, Florida’s own version of Jurassic Park beneath a canopy of incredible trees.
Along waterways feeding the swamps, giant leather ferns tower overhead. Primitive coontie plants that sprout in profusion in the rich, dark earth. The footpath is often wet.
Loop junctionOriginally constructed by the Florida Trail Association, this yellow-blazed linear trail originally had a primitive campsite as a destination for backpackers.
Now it is best tackled as a linear hike between two cars, or a loop through the ancient hammock from either the northern trailhead or Walter Boardman Lane.
Hikes
Bulow Creek Wahlin Trail Beyond the Fairchild Oak, the centerpiece of the main trailhead at Bulow Creek State Park, the interpretive Wahlin Trail delves deeper into Bulow Hammock.
Fairchild Oak Trail Beginning at one of Florida's largest live oak trees, the Fairchild Oak Trail explores a gradient of habitats above Bulow Creek for two linear miles. 
Bulow Creek Trail A linear hike between state park day use areas at Bulow Plantation Ruins and Bulow Creek, the Bulow Creek Trail parallels the flow of a freshwater creek near the sea
Bulow Woods Loop In a primordial forest of sluggish, fern-lined waterways amid a dense forest of massive, ancient trees, the 5.2 mile Bulow Woods Loop is one of North Florida's most scenic hikes.Trail Map
Explore More!
Slideshow
See our photos from Bulow Creek State Park
Nearby Adventures
Bulow Plantation Ruins State Park History and natural beauty meet on a 1.4 mile hike under a dense canopy of ancient live oaks to the ruins of one of Florida's oldest sugar mills.
North Peninsula State Park Neatly accessed via a scenic drive extending north from Ormond Beach, North Peninsula State Park has two tantalizing miles of oceanfront along a palm-rimmed line of dunes.
Betty Steflik Preserve Betty Steflik Memorial Preserve protects 320 acres of mangrove marsh, mud flats, and coastal uplands fronting downtown Flagler Beach.
Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area Formerly Flagler Beach State Park, this popular park stretches from the orange sand beaches of the Atlantic to windswept oak hammocks along the Intracoastal Waterway.
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