From the high ground of the ancient Bulow Hammock, the Fairchild Oak Trail descends through freshwater marsh to a ribbon of pine-palm flatwoods in the creek basin.
According to signage, it continues on to Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park as a 6.8 mile linear hike, where it’s signposted as the Bulow Creek Trail at that trailhead.
Estuarine cove below the bluffHowever, that route has been broken in two for many years, the Cisco Ditch a barrier requiring a new bridge.
Instead, connect the trailheads between the Fairchild Oak and Walter Boardman Ln, with an added round-trip to pretty Boardman Pond, as a round-trip or linear hike.
Forest along the bluff portionResources
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Overview
Location: Ormond Beach
Length: Up to 4.7 miles
Trailhead: 29.388088, -81.131385
Address: 3351 Old Dixie Highway, Ormond Beach
Fees: Free
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 386-676-4050
Open 8 AM to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome; pick up after your pet. Bicycles permitted. Use insect repellent and a hiking stick.
The Walter Boardman Lane trailhead [29.406772, -81.123410] has limited parking. Do not block the gate.
If it’s rained recently, expect mud along the first mile. If the mud is too much of an impediment, hike this in reverse for a two-mile round-trip to the causeway.
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.
Hike
After a visit to the impressive Fairchild Oak, head for the large sign marking this trail line-of-sight north beyond the picnic pavilion within sight of the parking area.
A pleasant, dry walk on an old forest road under the canopy of this ancient hardwood hammock, the path begins in dappled shade.
The Fairchild OakWalk under swaying streamers of Spanish moss. As the canopy opens, patches of grass grow between the oaks and cabbage palms.
Home to old-growth trees, Bulow Hammock perches atop a low bluff west of the Halifax River basin.
Start of the trailWhere cabbage palms take over the understory, seepage springs infuse the earth, turning the trail to mud. Where park vehicles have driven through, the mud is even deeper.
Hummocks of grass and fronds laid down by other hikers may help traversing it, but this mud is a modern phenomenon.
Mud from seepage springsWe suspect changes to groundwater flow due to nearby development. Still, the beauty of this ancient hammock makes it worth tackling.
Soon the path becomes grassy again. At a sharp right turn at 0.6 mile, gravel spills across the trail. Start a distinct downhill off the bluff.
Downhill from the bluffOn the descent, the habitat shifts to floodplain forest, the pathway becoming a causeway flanked by dark waters.
Having developed in ancient swales inland from Bulow Creek, the lily-dotted swamps at a mile are in a north-south line with Boardman Pond.
Freshwater marshWhen the sky opens up ahead, the beauty spot of this trail becomes apparent.
The causeway narrows across a broad salt marsh basin with open water, lined on its far shores by pines and cedars.
Bridge on causeway in estuaryThis showy cove is part of a puzzle of marshes where Bulow Creek meets the Halifax River to the southeast.
Expect puddles in the swales of the causeway before and after the wooden bridge over a tidally-influenced creek at 1.4 miles.
Looking out towards the Halifax River basinReaching treeline on a peninsula into these vast marshes, continue under a lush canopy of oaks and pines to slip past gate B-13 on the left.
Continue the curve, leaving the forest road that continues straight ahead to head north, parallel to the creek basin.
B-13 gateMeet a bench at a second forest road intersection at 1.5 miles. The loop made by those two roads once led to a primitive camping area.
It was established by the Florida Trail Association in the 1970s when local volunteers built this trail system.
Palm hammockContinue straight past the shaded bench onto a pleasant, dry pine-needle strewn forest road beneath tall slash pines in a pine-palm flatwoods.
A few of the pines adjoining the trail are true giants. Where cabbage palms surround the path, there’s a sometimes-damp swale.
StraightawayCurving past an interpretive sign into an archway of oaks, reach the gate at Walter Boardman Lane at 2 miles.
Either turn around here or continue across the road to add an easy 0.7 mile round-trip to showy Boardman Pond.
Exit and trail on other side of roadThis portion of the trail is largely under the oak canopy, with a marked side path leading to an observation deck along a large brackish pond nestled among the palms and pines.
Return the way you came, uphill this time from the creek basin, for a round trip of either 4 or 4.7 miles.
Boardman PondTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Bulow Creek State Park
Bulow Creek State Park At Bulow Creek State Park, walk among the ancients in Bulow Hammock, starting with the imposing Fairchild Oak, one of Florida's largest live oak trees.Video
Following the Fairchild Oak Trail
Slideshow
See our photos from the Fairchild Oak Trail
Nearby Adventures
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.
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.
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.
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
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