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Florida Trail, Cypress Lakes Preserve

At Cypress Lakes Preserve, a 1.7-mile segment of the Florida Trail follows the edge of a series of cypress-lined lakes where ancient trees have survived the ages

Florida Trail, Western Corridor  |  Ridge Manor
( 28.514315, -82.195150 )      1.7 miles

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Edge of a cypress lake
Hiking along the edge of a cypress lake. See more photos on Flickr

Sometimes, it’s good to be the swamp. This 1.7-mile segment of the Florida Trail in Ridge Manor traces the outline of a series of cypress-lined lakes that survived the ages along the Withlacoochee River floodplain.

Established in 1998 under the Hernando County Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program, which was thankfully reinstated by the county commission soon after our hike, Cypress Lakes Preserve is home to uncommon wildflowers and a large number of enormous cypress trees, including one of the largest by volume that we’ve ever seen. Since it doesn’t have a name, we’re calling it the Keyhole Cypress. You’ll know it when you see it.


Resources

Florida Trail Hikes book cover The Florida Trail Guide book cover Central Florida Orlando Explorers Guide book cover Florida Trail history book
Full details on this hike, including a trail map, are in our full-color guidebook Florida Trail Hikes.

Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us provide public information on this website.

 
Guthook GuidesGuthook Guides GPS-driven map-based guide to the Florida National Scenic Trail with thousands of waypoints from The Florida Trail Guide. Works offline. For iPhone and Android.


Overview

Location: Ridge Manor
Length: 1.7 miles
Trailhead: 28.514315, -82.195150
Type: linear
Fees / Permits: free
Difficulty: easy
Bug factor: moderate to high
Restroom: none

There is no real parking area for the preserve, just a small pulloff off Ridge Manor Road at Olancha Rd.

Directions

This hike is very easy to reach from Interstate 75 at the SR 50 exit for Brooksville, where there are a large number of services including hotels and restaurants. Drive east along SR 50 for 2.8 miles, passing under the long bridge that carries the Withlacoochee State Trail across all four lanes.

Turn left at the second turnout after the bridge over the Withlacoochee River onto Ridge Manor Rd. The main entrance and pulloff for the preserve is on the left where Olancha Rd comes in from the right. The other entrance to the preserve is off a chunk of old SR 50 at the first left-hand turnout after the bridge, just past the fire station. Roadside parking only.

Hike

Gate and stile on Ridge Manor Blvd
Gate and stile on Ridge Manor Blvd

Starting your hike from the gate along Ridge Manor Rd, follow the orange blazes down a grassy forest road. Right off the bat, the forest doesn’t look very impressive. It’s an oak hammock that’s been burned and otherwise distressed, with a lot of deadfall. But don’t let that dissuade you; this is a very interesting hike. Passing a grassy forest road off to the right, you come up to two trail junctions in quick succession with other tracks.

There is a chunk of chert emerging from the ground at the second one. Stay with the orange blazes. Once the landscape loses a little elevation on the way to the lakes, the forest becomes more beautiful. The trail slips past an ancient oak furry with resurrection fern.

Reaching the cypress-lined rim of the first lake after 0.3 miles, the trail turns to stay just above the edge of the floodplain, treating you to views of the large cypresses from the shade of the oaks. By a half mile, you turn away from the cypresses briefly to head uphill into a sandhill area.

A large patch of sand squares crowds both sides of the footpath. These unusual wildflowers with square sets of blooms are joined by foxglove and roseling in the summer months.

Sand squares
Sand squares (Paronychia rugelii)

Making a sharp left at a forest road, the trail continues into the shade of large live oaks dense with resurrection fern. You draw close to the cypresses again, with more large trees catching your attention.

One has a double trunk. Another has knees that stand nearly five feet tall. While it’s tempting to leave the cover of the oaks to wander out among them, watch your step for both mudholes and hidden water moccasins.

Big cypress knee
The cypress knee on the right rises to eye level

As you walk along the saw-palmetto lined pathway, keep looking out into the swamp. As the trail draws close to the cypresses again, one immense cypress comes into view. This is the Keyhole Cypress.

You may join us in a double-take as you realize just how big that cypress is. It’s deeper in the swamp than the others, but stands out due to its keyholes. It is double-trunked, and the trunk keeps meeting and separating, leaving large gaps. The base of the cypress spreads out like an oversized hoop skirt. And it is huge.

The Keyhole Cypress.
The Keyhole Cypress. I could stand in that big keyhole.

Leaving this section of the swamp, the trail scoots uphill briefly, passing a perimeter fence before it drops down to the next stretch of cypress. Here, you can see a break through the trees indicating open water beyond them. The ground is firmer underfoot.

The cypresses here are still large and many have double trunks, including one with a bizarre stub of a cypress knee that’s almost like a third trunk that never reached for the sky. You draw closer to the water’s edge along the footpath, providing some nice views.

Walking beneath the oaks
Walking beneath the oaks

After a mile, the trail turns to the right and goes uphill into the oaks, reaching a bench just before a sturdy wooden bridge. The bridge, which can be slippery when wet, traverses a drainage area where the cypress swamp drains into a large sinkhole to the right.

Leaving the bridge, the trail goes through two quick junctions with incoming unmarked trails. Stay to the right at each junction, following the orange blazes. Continuing downhill into an open area edged by large oaks, the trail swings through a sharp left and heads back uphill, this time to tunnel through an understory of young oaks beneath the older trees.

Bridge over the sinkhole
Bridge over the sinkhole

By 1.3 miles, the trail descends to the edge of the next cypress swamp, where there is an open flat area facing the swamp. A small herd of deer ran off along the swamp’s edge at our approach, watching us from behind clumps of saw palmetto. Leaving the cypresses, the trail makes its way steadily uphill through the oak forest.

It emerges within sight of a ribbon of cypress trees with many knees below them as it passes another ancient oak before the final uphill climb to the stile and gate marking the edge of the preserve at 1.6 miles. This is your turn-around point if you’re doing an out-and-back hike, a total of 3.2 miles.

Stile at the north end of the trail
Stile at the north end of the trail

If you’re walking between two cars – or working on a section hike of the Florida Trail and continuing north – exit through the stile and walk up the sand road past a firefighter’s residence. You emerge on the pavement of old SR 50, with the fire station within view off to your left, completing a 1.7 mile walk.

Trail Map

Florida Trail Cypress Lakes Preserve Trail Map

Download land manager trail map

Explore More

Croom River Trail

Croom River Trail Loop

Using the Florida Trail and the Blue Loop Trail, hikers can explore a picturesque corner of Withlacoochee State Forest in Ridge Manor along a 3.9-mile loop.

Ribbon of blue river between forested banks

Florida Trail, Croom River Trail

A pleasant ramble on bluffs above the Withlacoochee River, the Croom River Trail segment of the Florida Trail tunnels through oak hammocks and slips around cypress swamps along its 6.3-mile journey.

Official Website

Category: Central Florida, Day Hikes, Florida Trail, Hikes, Natural Lands, TrailsTag: Big Trees, Botanical, Brooksville, Dade City, Favorites, Florida's Adventure Coast, FT Western Corridor, Notable Trees, Ridge Manor, Scenic Hikes, Wildflowers

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The Florida Trail Guide

The Florida Trail GuideThe comprehensive mile-by-mile guidebook to planning section and thru-hikes along the entire length of the Florida Trail. 356 pages, $19.95 + tax and shipping.

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Florida Trail Hikes

Florida Trail HikesFifty of the best day hikes, overnights, and weekend trips on the Florida Trail, plus nine of the best section hikes. Full hike descriptions and maps, full color. 376 pages. $24.95 + tax and shipping.

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Discovering the Florida Trail

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Our virtual walk along the length of the Florida Trail, covering more than 1,500 miles from the Everglades to Pensacola Beach. Hardcover, 196 pages. $24.95 + tax and shipping.

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The Florida Trail

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Our history of the first 50 years of the Florida Trail, from its founding in 1966 to becoming a National Scenic Trail to volunteer efforts today.

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The Florida Trail App

Comprehensive logistics and offline maps all in one: The Florida Trail Guide is now also an interactive map-based mile-by-mile app by Guthook Guides.

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Florida Trail Updates


Get periodic recaps of changes to the Florida Trail, which we accumulate between editions of our guidebook. Find all official Trail Closures & Notices here.

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