Showcasing one small corner of Chassahowitzka WMA, Cypress Circle introduces you to both upland and lowland habitats as it circles around a cypress dome.
Resources
Resources for exploring the area
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Overview
Location: Weeki Wachee
Length: 0.8 mile loop
Trailhead: 28.6490, -82.5751
Fees: Day use permit of $3 per person or $6 per vehicle
Restroom: A portable toilet is seasonally in place at the hunt check station
Land manager: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Phone: 863-648-3200
Open daily from dawn to dusk. Leashed dogs welcome. There is a picnic table at the trailhead.
Directions
Enter the main gate of Chassahowitzka WMA on the west side of US 19 north of Centralia Rd. Pass the Hunt Check Station and take the graded road, Indigo Lane. Follow it for 1.5 miles until you see the trail parking area for the two hiking trails in the preserve.
Directions
Enter the main gate of Chassahowitzka WMA on the west side of US 19 north of Centralia Rd. Pass the Hunt Check Station and take the graded road, Indigo Lane. Follow it for 1.5 miles until you see the trail parking area for the two hiking trails in the preserve.
Hike
Chassahowitzka WMA is a huge swath of public land along Florida’s Adventure Coast, protecting more than 34,000 acres of coastal forests and wetlands north of Weeki Wachee.
Cypress was a big deal here, and how the town of Centralia came about, a bustling early 1900s timbering community run by the Tidewater Cypress Company.
By the 1930s, they’d tapped out all of the virgin cypress and moved on, leaving a ghost town. What you see along the Cypress Circle is relatively young for cypress trees.
Starting at the fence east of the parking area with the Cypress Circle sign, follow the footpath, which is marked with brown hiker markers.
Duck under a low canopy of scrub oaks to follow the trail through sandhills and scrub.
It heads down a corridor lined with saw palmetto before it emerges on the edge of a pine flatwoods.
Near the end of the loop, the trail crosses a bog bridge over a wet prairie.
Trail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Chassahowitzka WMA
Chassahowitzka WMA
Protecting more than 34,000 acres of coastal habitats along Florida’s Adventure Coast, Chassahowitzka WMA offers extensive exploration on its network of limerock roads.
Hike the adjacent Turkey Trace
Wild Turkey Trace
Along an upland trail in Chassahowitzka WMA, Wild Turkey Trace immerses you in the turkey oaks and pines of the sandhill forest, with the surprise of a boggy marsh along the way.
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Annutteliga Hammock CA
Buffering Chassahowitzka WMA and considered an extension of it, Annutteliga Hammock Conservation Area protects 570 acres of sandhills and scrub while offering several loop hikes.
Fickett Hammock Preserve
Delving deep into a hardwood hammock with towering trees, the loop trail at Fickett Hammock Preserve quickly immerses you into a shady forest of botanical beauty.
Chinsegut Conservation Center Tract
Discover the beauty of May’s Prairie at the heart of the Chinsegut Conservation Center Tract
Perry Oldenburg WEA
With a surprising diversity of oak species for Central Florida on its 1.5-mile loop, Perry Oldenburg WEA protects a prime piece of sandhill habitat where gopher tortoises thrive.
Trail Map (PDF) Hunt Dates Official Website