• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Florida Hikes logo

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

  • Trails
  • Maps
  • Guidebooks
  • Search
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel
Boggy Head Creek

Florida Trail, Forgotten Creek

9.7 miles. Contrasting steephead ravines and sluggish creeks in gum swamps with restoration areas on former sod farms and pine plantations, the Forgotten Creek portion of the Florida Trail in Nokuse surprises with its challenges.

Florida Trail, Central Panhandle  |  Florida Trail, Nokuse
( 30.539318,-85.920380 )      9.7 miles

9.7 miles. Contrasting steephead ravines and sluggish creeks surrounded by titi and gum swamp with stretches of sod farm and pine plantation undergoing restoration to longleaf pine habitat, this section of the Florida Trail offers some unexpected challenges.


Resources

Florida Trail Hikes book cover The Florida Trail Guide book cover North Florida Panhandle 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

Hiking the Florida Trail through the central part of the Nokuse section means traversing a mix of steephead ravines, pine plantations being restored to longleaf habitat, and titi-gum swamps surrounding tannic waterways.

Although not as consistently beautiful overall as the adjoining sections of Nokuse, the Forgotten Creek section offers up some unexpected immersions into tricky tangles of floodplain swamps, as well as some unforgettable beauty spots in steephead ravines and along perched boggy slopes where pitcher plants thrive.

For those seeking a short day hike with a great deal of beauty, a walk in from Seven Runs trailhead to the steephead along Boggy Head Creek, a round-trip of 3 miles, is very worthwhile.

Especially in springtime when the mountain laurel and Florida anise are in bloom. This is one of the easiest-to-reach botanical hot spots along the Florida Trail.


Trip Planning

Ongoing restoration of pine plantations back to native longleaf pine habitat is the goal of Nokuse Plantation, a private conservancy created by local entrepreneur M.C. Davis.

While this process is going on, you will encounter both recent clearcuts and new young forests, particularly through this section of the Florida Trail in Nokuse. Keep alert for flagging and blaze posts in these areas to follow the footpath.

Portions of this trail, including the Red Deer campsite, are on lands managed by Northwest Florida Water Management District, which permits limited seasonal hunting in Lafayette Creek WMA.

For a day hike between trailheads, your total mileage will be 10.1 miles.


Directions

 
From SR 20 in Bruce, follow SR 81 north for 5.8 miles to the Seven Runs trailhead on the west side of the highway, just north of the bridge. This is your starting point.
 
The ending point is the Lafayette Creek trailhead. From the same major road junction in Bruce, continue west towards Freeport. Turn right on J.W. Hollingsworth Rd and follow it for 4.2 miles. It’s a narrow rural road that makes several 90-degree turns and crosses a one-lane bridge before ending at the Lafayette Creek trailhead.

Hike

From the Seven Runs trailhead, it’s necessary to walk a quarter mile south along SR 81 to reach the trail crossing. The reason is Seven Runs Creek and its extensive floodplain.

Where the trail enters the woods, you’ll follow the edge of this floodplain for the next mile, sometimes adjoining it, sometimes on bluffs above it. Mountain laurel thrives on the bluffs.

Boggy Head Creek
Boggy Head Creek in Nokuse Plantation

After crossing Boggy Head Creek, the trail continues up the steephead ravine from which it flows, eventually climbing up and out onto the rolling hills of Nokuse.

It’s here that active restoration is going on, cutting down stands of planted pine and replacing them with longleaf. The restoration area extends over the next four miles.

Florida Trail Nokuse Black Creek
Bridge across Black Creek

When you reach the Black Creek basin, it’s almost a surprise how the trail heads downhill to meet the creek. Look for pitcher plants on the slopes. Expect to hop through roots and puddles down in this floodplain.

It’s the first of five floodplains central to the Forgotten Creek section. Segments of pine plantation and restoration areas are between each of the floodplains.

After you cross Lafayette Creek, here far closer to its source than along the Lafayette Creek section to the north, the Forgotten Creek campsite is 7.4 miles into this hike.

It’s perched on the hill above its namesake creek, which is also surrounded by a large gum swamp.

Florida Trail Nokuse Forgotten Creek campsite
Campsite at Forgotten Creek

Once you cross Red Doe Creek, a pretty sand-bottomed waterway at the bottom of a steephead ravine, you’re done with the creek crossings.

Climbing up out of that steephead, you reach level ground and an area that was clearcut and replanted with longleaf pines. Look for blaze posts to guide you over the next several miles.

At the end of this section, a sign points out the side trail leading over to the Lafayette Creek trailhead.

NORTHBOUND: Florida Trail, Lafayette Creek
SOUTHBOUND: Florida Trail, Choctawhatchee River

Category: Backpacking, Day Hikes, Florida Trail, Hikes, Land Trusts, Northwest Florida, Trails, Water Management AreasTag: Bonifay, Botanical, Dog-friendly, Ebro, Florida Trail, Freeport, FT Central Panhandle, FT Nokuse, Hilly, Ponce De Leon, Primitive Camping

Reader Interactions

Have an update? Contact us.

Primary Sidebar

Florida Trail Apps

Farout GuidesFarout Guides Comprehensive logistics and offline maps for the Florida National Scenic Trail (1,500 miles), the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (108 miles), and the ECT Florida Connector (92 miles).

Hiking the Florida Trail

  • Florida Trail Overview
  • Plan your Hike
  • Choose the Right Gear
  • Best Scenic Hikes
  • Best Backpacking Trips
  • Section Hiking
  • Thru-Hiking
  • Eastern Continental Trail
  • Florida Trail in South Florida
  • Florida Trail in Central Florida
  • Florida Trail in North Florida
  • Florida Trail in Northwest Florida
  • Florida Trail for Scouting
  • Florida Trail Adventures
  • Florida Trail Updates

Florida Trail by Section

Florida trail blaze on pines in forest Florida Trail, Apalachicola
Florida Trail Big Bend view Florida Trail, Big Bend
Florida Trail Big Cypress Florida Trail, Big Cypress
Florida Trail, Blackwater
Florida Trail Nokuse Florida Trail, Central Panhandle
Eglin Weaver Creek Florida Trail, Eglin
Florida Trail Kissimmee Florida Trail, Kissimmee
Florida Trail at Rice Creek Florida Trail, Northeast Florida
Juniper Prairie Wilderness Florida Trail, Ocala
Florida Trail, Okeechobee Florida Trail, Okeechobee
Florida Trail at Forever Florida Florida Trail, Orlando
Florida Trail Seashore Dunes Florida Trail, Seashore
Florida Trail along a canal south of Clewiston Florida Trail, Seminole
No Name Creek Florida Trail, Suwannee
Cypress Lakes Preserve Florida Trail, Western Corridor
Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail

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.

Footer

FIND A TRAIL OR PARK

NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Apalachicola. Apalachicola National Forest. Blackwater River State Forest. Blountstown. Bonifay. Bristol. Cape San Blas. Carrabelle. Chattahoochee. Chipley. Crawfordville. Crestview. DeFuniak Springs. Destin. Ebro. Eglin Air Force Base. Fort Walton Beach. Freeport. Gulf Islands National Seashore. Madison. Marianna. Milton. Monticello. Mossy Head. Navarre Beach . Niceville. Panama City Beach. Pensacola. Ponce De Leon. Port St. Joe. Quincy. Sopchoppy. South Walton. St. Marks. St. Marks River. St. Marks NWR. Tallahassee. Vernon. Wakulla. Wewahitchka

NORTH FLORIDA
Alachua. Amelia Island. Baldwin. Branford. Bunnell. Cedar Key. Chiefland. Crescent City. Dowling Park. Ellaville. Fernandina Beach. Flagler Beach. Gainesville. Green Cove Springs. High Springs. Jacksonville. Keystone Heights. Lake Butler.Lake City. Live Oak. Mayo. Macclenny. Micanopy. Olustee. Orange Park. Osceola National Forest. Palatka. Palatka-Lake Butler Trail. Palm Coast. Perry. Salt Springs. St. Augustine. Starke. Steinhatchee. Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. Suwannee Springs. Talbot Islands. Timucuan Preserve. Trenton. Welaka. White Springs. Williston

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

MULTI-REGION
Big Cypress Swamp. East Coast Greenway. Everglades National Park. Florida National Scenic Trail Lake Wales Ridge.

CENTRAL FLORIDA
Apopka. Belleview. Brandon. Brooksville. Bushnell. Canaveral National Seashore. Christmas. Chuluota. Clearwater Beach. Clermont. Coast to Coast Trail. Cocoa Beach. Cross Florida Greenway. Crystal River. Dade City. Daytona Beach. De Leon Springs. DeBary. Deland. Deltona. Dunedin. Dunnellon. Frostproof. Geneva. Inverness. Kenansville. Kissimmee. Lake Mary. Lake Wales. Lakeland. Largo. Leesburg.Lithia. Longwood. Melbourne. Melbourne Beach. Merritt Island. Merritt Island NWR. Mims. Mount Dora. New Port Richey. New Smyrna Beach. Ocala. Ocala National Forest. Ocklawaha. Orlando. Ormond Beach. Osteen. Oviedo. Palm Bay. Ridge Manor. Riverview. Ruskin. Sanford. Silver Springs. Spring Hill. St. Cloud. St. Petersburg. Tampa. Tarpon Springs. Titusville . Walt Disney World. Weeki Wachee. Winter Park. Winter Springs. Withlacoochee State Forest. Withlacoochee State Trail. Yeehaw Junction. Zephyrhills

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Bradenton . Charlotte Harbor. Ding Darling NWR. Englewood. Estero. Fort Myers. Immokalee. Naples. Pine Island. Port Charlotte. Punta Gorda. Sanibel Island. Sarasota. Venice

SOUTH FLORIDA
Arcadia. Basinger. Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress Seminole Reservation. Clewiston. Everglades City. Fisheating Creek. Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Lake Placid. LaBelle. Lakeport. Moore Haven. Okeechobee. Pahokee. Port Mayaca. Sebring. South Bay

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
Big Pine Key. Biscayne Bay. Biscayne National Park. Boca Raton. Boynton Beach. Coconut Creek. Coral Gables. Coral Springs. Davie. Delray Beach. Northeast Everglades Natural Area. Florida Keys. Fort Lauderdale. Fort Pierce. Hobe Sound. Hollywood. Homestead. Islamorada. Jensen Beach. Jupiter. Juno Beach. Key Biscayne. Key Largo. Key West. Marathon. Miami. Ocean to Lake Greenway. Overseas Heritage Trail. Palm Beach. Port St. Lucie. Redland. Sebastian. Stuart. Vero Beach. West Palm Beach

  • Trails
  • Parks
  • Beaches
  • Gardens
  • Springs
  • Ecotours
  • Attractions
©2006-2023, Sandra Friend & John Keatley | Disclosure | Site Index | Work with Us | Advertise with Us
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy | Florida Hikes PO Box 93 Mims FL 32754| Contact