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Florida Trail at Rice Creek

Florida Trail, Rice Creek

Home of ancient cypress trees and the remains of a 1700s rice plantation, Rice Creek Conservation Area has a fascinating loop trail along the statewide Florida Trail

Palatka      ( 29.682369, -81.736847 )      5.2 miles

Just three miles west of Palatka, this segment of the Florida Trail is incredibly lush. Bromeliads dangle from overhanging limbs. Wild azalea blooms. Cypress trees grow to incredible sizes. Along the loop, you’ll find the 7th largest cypress in Florida.


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

Location: Palatka
Length: 5.2 miles linear and loop
Trailhead: 29.682369, -81.736847
Fees: none
Restroom: None

Along the Oak Hammock Trail, the “Rice Creek Hilton” is a screened shelter popular with backpackers, with a non-potable pitcher pump adjoining it.


Directions

 
From the intersection of SR 100 and SR 19 in Palatka, drive west for 4.2 miles on SR 100. Look for the large sign on the left for Rice Creek Conservation Area. Turn left and follow the track to the parking area. From the parking area, skirt around the gate and walk down the track until you see blue blazes leading to the right. Follow the blue blazes to connect to the main Florida Trail; turn left to head south towards the Rice Creek Swamp loop.

Hike

From the parking area off SR 100, round the gate and follow the entrance road in until you see blue blazes off to the right. The blue blazed trail leads to the main section of the Florida Trail.

At the T, turn left to head into the heart of the swamp. You’ll reach the loop trail after 1.5 miles. Built and maintained by the Florida Trail Association’s Putnam Crew, it’s an excellent piece of trail.

It’s the 2.2-mile loop through the heart of Rice Creek Swamp that makes this section of the Florida Trail so special. Reaching the beginning of the loop, you’ll follow the orange blazes forward and start crossing bridges. And more bridges.

The bridges – each carefully numbered – carry you across breaks in the old dikes that once defined the impoundments in which rice was grown. Around you is the floodplain forest, filled with cypress. Maple-leaf winged dragonflies flit from cypress knee to cypress knee.

Florida Trail, Rice Creek
Florida Trail at Rice Creek, Palatka

You pass a junction of creeks on the right, with a spring just off out of site. Rice Creek parallels the trail, its clear flow over a sand bottom stained by tannins. Slash pines rise like columns supporting the canopy.

A quarter mile into the loop, you reach the yellow-blazed cross trail leading off to the left. If you’re looking for the shortest possible hike, use it to cross the swamp and turn left at the end of it to make the loop.

The cypresses get larger. Off on the right, you’ll see a double-trunked cypress. On the left, past bridge #9, the hollowed out charred remains of an ancient cypress that you could take shelter inside in a pinch.

Nearly a mile into the loop, you come to a side boardwalk, adjoined by a sign with a green tree painted on a white background. Turn right and follow it to the end.

If the swamp is as it should be – wet – you’ll look out across a floodplain of knees to see the base and the rising column of the eighth largest cypress in Florida. As of March 2007, it stood at 107 feet tall, 24 feet 9 inches in circumference, and a crown spread of 48 feet by 42 feet. This cypress is BIG.

Continuing around the loop, you’ll pass the stumps of more big cypresses as the habitat transitions with a small amount of elevation. The orange blazes break off and lead away from the loop, carrying the Florida Trail southward.

To continue your day hike loop, the trail makes a sharp left at a large, old live oak to cross a bridge with a sign “Oak Hammock Trail.” A blue blazed side trail on the right leads to the primitive campsite, a pleasant shady spot with picnic table and pitcher pump.

A second side trail on the right leads to what used to be the parking area for this loop. Continue straight, and you’ll end up at the beginning of the loop. Turn right to backtrack your route, reaching the trailhead after 5.2 miles.

Category: Backpacking, Day Hikes, Florida Trail, Hikes, Loop Hikes, North Florida, Trails, Water Management AreasTag: Big Trees, Birding, Boardwalks, Botanical, Florida Trail, FT NE Florida, Historic Sites, Notable Trees, Observation Decks, Palatka, Primitive Camping, Scenic Hikes, Springs, Weekends, Wildlife Viewing

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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.

Hiking the Florida Trail

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Florida Trail by Section

Porter Lake, Apalachicola National Forest

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Florida Trail Big Bend view

Florida Trail, Big Bend

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Florida Trail Big Cypress

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Eglin Weaver Creek

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Florida Trail Kissimmee

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Florida Trail at Rice Creek

Florida Trail, Northeast Florida

Florida Trail, Northeast Florida
Juniper Prairie Wilderness

Florida Trail, Ocala

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Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail

Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail

Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail
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Florida Trail, Okeechobee

Florida Trail, Okeechobee
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Florida Trail along a canal south of Clewiston

Florida Trail, Seminole

Florida Trail, Seminole
No Name Creek

Florida Trail, Suwannee

Florida Trail, Suwannee
Cypress Lakes Preserve

Florida Trail, Western Corridor

Florida Trail, Western Corridor

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