Dickerson Bay is a prime birding spot in Panacea
I was staying in Wakulla County last week while attending meetings in Tallahassee, and I took advantage of the time shift by enjoying some rambling about in the late afternoons. I stopped at the Wakulla County Visitor Center, along US 98 across from the historic springs in Panacea (or, more easy to see from the road, Posey’s Up the Creek) to check out the exhibits. And I saw a hiker sign that said “Nature Trail.” Being the curious sort, I asked the gals inside the center where the trail led. “Oh, I went down there and saw a ‘gator on the trail, so I turned around.” said one lady. “It’s pretty snakey looking.”
I couldn’t resist. Indeed, the trail follows the estuarine fringe along Dickerson Bay, in the shade of tall slash pines and shorter white cedars and wax myrtle. It’s rather short, maybe a 1/4 mile at my pace, and dumps you out onto the salt flats that sweep around the edge of Panacea. Fiddler crabs scuttled, and a symphony of birds kept up their trilling calls. It was a nice juxtaposition to sitting in a meeting room. The trail doesn’t have any name, but if you need a tiny jolt of the Big Bend to get you going, it might just have your name on it.
View of Dickerson Bay behind the welcome center
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