Florida Hikes

Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

Grassy path edged by dense diminutive scrub forest

Cedar Key Scrub East Loop

One of Florida’s most northerly locations home to the Florida scrub-jay, Cedar Key Scrub Reserve provides birders a quiet walk along its scenic East Loop.

Cedar Key (29.205155, -82.988130)   3.1 miles   Cedar Key Scrub Reserve

Cedar Key Scrub Reserve protects over 5,000 acres of natural land, highlighting endangered Florida scrub habitats.

A variety of natural communities are found across this unique patch of conservation land, from salt marshes to scrubby and mesic flatwoods. The East Loop focuses on scrub.

Scrub forest with tall rounded pine on right
Scrub forest at Cedar Key Scrub

Resources

Resources for exploring the area
50 Hikes in North Florida book cover North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover Paddlers Guide Florida Hiking the Gulf Coast book cover
 
Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us provide public information on this website.

Overview

Location: Cedar Key
Length: 3.1 mile loop
Trailhead: 29.205068,-82.988127
Address: SR 24, Cedar Key
Fees: Free
Restrooms: Vault toilet at the trailhead
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 352-543-5567

Open 8 AM to sunset. Leashed dogs permitted. Trails are multi-use.

Cedar Key Scrub is a rare exception to the rule of no hunting in Florida State Parks, hence the reserve designation. See the link at the bottom of the page for hunt dates and wear bright orange if hiking during scheduled hunts.

Directions


 
From the intersection of US 19/98 and SR 24 in Otter Creek, north of Inglis, follow SR 24 west for 15.8 miles to the main trailhead entrance on the right.

Hike

Starting at the parking area, walk past the covered information kiosk and head through a fence gap onto the main trail.

Tall grasses line the wide pathway, giving way to a mix of shrubs, sporadic pines, and cabbage palms.

Kiosk under pines at gate Trailhead

Buttonweeds form a light ground cover over sandy edges alongside a wet section of trail, attracting numerous butterflies and other pollinators with tiny white flowers.

The damp area quickly transitions to scrubby flatwoods, with myrtle oaks and young sand pines clustered together, alongside fetterbush lyonia and goldenrod.

Dense scrub understory with goldenrod Scrubby flatwoods

At the first intersection of trails, a bench sits among a gently rolling terrain with low-lying shrubs.

Continue straight though the crossroads, beginning a counterclockwise loop while climbing an ancient sand dune.

Wide open area of low vegetation with pines in background Open scrubland

Reaching the north end of the property, the trail makes a left turn alongside a dense swamp.

Although the path remains dry and scrubby, stands of cypress provide a backdrop to short longleaf pines and oaks.

Light green cypress needles in cypress dome behind scrub foreground Cypress swamp

Continuing westward, a grassy path weaves through a mosaic of scrub, depression marsh, and mesic flatwood habitats.

At 1.6 miles, the trail turns sharply to the left before ascending into a desert-like scrub environment.

Marsh outlined by yellow grasses Depression marsh

A soft pathway of stark white sugar sands leads to the top of a slope carpeted with scrub oak and rusty lyonia. Vultures circle high above this arid landscape, and shade is very limited.

This specific habitat supports Florida’s only endemic bird species, the Florida scrub-jay.

Tire track gash in white sand scrub forest White sands in the scrub

Scrubby flatwoods emerge where the trail descends the slope towards the south end of the loop.

Orange and yellow milkworts bloom among various sage, golden, and silver tinted grasses.

A bench placed next to the trail offers a resting spot surrounded by this quiet, picturesque setting.

Bench in scrub forest Trailside bench

The loop concludes at 3 miles. The trailhead is another tenth of a mile after the final right turn.

Picnic tables underneath a covered pavilion at the parking area provide a fantastic spot for post-hike reflection.

Picnic pavilion in pine forest Picnic tables at the trailhead

Trail Map

Cedar Key Scrub Trail Map
Red: East Loop. Blue & Brown: West Loop routes.

Explore More!

Learn more about Cedar Key Scrub Reserve

Dense thicket of Florida scrub vegetation Cedar Key Scrub Reserve Along a gradient of habitats from scrub to coastal salt marsh, Cedar Key Scrub Reserve provides two loop trails open to hikers, cyclists, and equestrians.

Video

A virtual walk on the East Loop at Cedar Key Scrub

Nearby Adventures

More worth exploring while you’re in this area.

Interpretive sign at boardwalk to island Dennis Creek Trail At the Shell Mound Unit of Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, the Dennis Creek Trail immerses you in classic habitats of the Gulf Coast along a 1-mile loop.
Manatee Springs Manatee Springs State Park Showcasing the lower Suwannee River, Manatee Springs State Park centers around a clear blue spring, one of Florida's largest and most picturesque
Waterfront view from island of Cedar Key Atsena Otie Key The original Cedar Key isn't where you think. It's offshore, within sight of the current waterfront, an island called Atsena Otie Key, part of Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.
Marshy island Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park Spanning from Inglis to Cedar Key, this 19,000 acre state park conserves a truly wild Gulf shoreline.

Hunt Dates Official Website

Chris Stevens
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