On an early morning in the fog off the river, you can almost feel the ghosts slipping between the trees, sunlight dappling through the moist needles of longleaf pine and the air thick with the fresh scent of river bottom and fungus.
Pale lily-like blooms of wiregrass gentian peep from between the grasses carpeting the forest floor. The Apalachicola River burbles its riversong just beyond the clearing where more than 250 died on the fateful morning of July 27, 1816 – the horrific and instant destruction of a colony of African Americans, freedmen and runaway slaves at the hands of the U.S. Navy.
To explore where this significant chapter of American history took place, this gentle walk of less than a mile in the Apalachicola National Forest leads through a well-interpreted historic site and a pine forest where wildflowers thrive.
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Overview
Location: Sumatra
Length: 0.9 mile loop
Trailhead: 29.940383, -85.011233
Fees: Free
Restroom: At the picnic area
This is a beautiful place for a picnic. Large interpretive kiosks and markers along the footpath assist in explaining the transition of Fort Gadsden from British to Spanish oversight. There is an overlook on the Apalachicola River, which has a gentle riverbank accessible for fishing. Be alert for alligators, however, along the water’s edge. The trail may flood after a heavy rain or when the river’s high.
Directions
From Tallahassee, take SR 20 west to Hosford, and head south on SR 65. Continue south past Sumatra and the Wright Lake Recreation Area for 4 miles past the Sumatra store to Brickyard Road on the right. Follow the signs down the forest roads to the park entrance: go 1.4 miles, turn right; continue 0.8 mile, turn a slight left; continue 0.8 mile, turn left to stay with the main road into the historic site. These are dirt roads and not always in the best of shape, but usually passable by a passenger vehicle. High clearance vehicles will have less trouble. Don’t attempt to visit Fort Gadsden if the entrance road is at all under water.
Hike
Near the end of the War of 1812, the British built a fort at a strategic point on the Apalachicola River. Prospect Bluff was a high, dry spot surrounded by swampy pine woods.
The British built alliances with Creek and Seminole leaders, and encouraged free blacks and runaways to join them. The U.S. Army began calling the site “The Negro Fort.”
It was a sore spot for them, with the U.S. Government allied with Spain in Florida. General Andrew Jackson was ordered to deal with the situation of this “enemy” fortress in the middle of lands claimed by Spain.
Ultimately was General Edmund P. Gaines who gave the orders for the attack and sent Commander Duncan Clinch in with two schooners up the Apalachicola River and a party of Creek warriors.
On the morning of July 27, 1816, a battle raged, with the inhabitants of the fort raising a flag of “No Surrender.”
A well-aimed cannonade of heated cannonballs exploded their powder magazine, killing 270 inside the walls of the fort and destroying the fortress.
Start your walk at the parking area, where the path to the picnic area leads you up to a historic marker commemorating the importance of this site in Florida history.
You might find an interpretive guide in the information box, but if not, be sure to walk around the historic display in the picnic area to learn the complex picture of this site. Two forts commanded this narrows in the Apalachicola River.
The first was built by the British in 1814 (signs designated “British Fort” show the location of the original fort) and a second fortress built two years after the explosion of the powder magazine.
The second was Fort Gadsden, built on command of General Andrew Jackson during the Second Seminole War, designed by Lieutenant James Gadsden (for whom Gadsden County is named), and occupied from 1818 through the Civil War.
The trail leads you from the picnic area past bits and pieces of old steamships. Steamships were the core of transportation in the early days of the Florida Territory, this river essentially an interstate for travel from Georgia to the Gulf.
During the Civil War, Columbus was the shipbuilding capital of the Confederacy. All new Confederate warships launched had to come down through this passage to reach the Gulf of Mexico to be put into service.
Although Fort Gadsden, being surrounded by swamps, was more defensible, its artillery was stripped and moved upriver to another site along the narrows of the Apalachicola River.
Only a skeleton crew of soldiers remained here as an early lookout for Union infiltration up the river channel.
A bench provides a quiet spot to admire the strength of the Apalachicola River as it slips past. To continue along the trail, walk behind the bench and look across the field at the flagpole.
There is a breach in the earthworks of the fort, and a British flag on a distant flagpole behind it. Head over there.
Once at the site of the old British fort, look for an arrow at the far side of the clearing to pointing into the longleaf pine forest.
A mowed path through the forest, the Wiregrass-Gentian Trail leads you from the site of the old fortress to the “Renegade Cemetery,” where those who died in the explosion – men, women, and children, primarily African-American – are buried.
Wildflowers bloom profusely throughout the longleaf pine forest in spring, especially on the approach to the clearing.
The prime flower to watch for is the rare and endangered wiregrass genetian, with a pale-white lily-like bloom in winter. Colorful pink sabatia blooms here as well.
In the forest clearing, a marker and a burial vault commemorate those who died defending their personal freedom and their honor for the British who took them in.
Another “Nature Trail” sign leads you deeper into the longleaf pine forest, where the understory is very open. Candyroot and wild batchelor-button lend a splash of yellow and orange to the wiregrass.
After 0.6 mile, the trail emerges onto a forest road. Turn left and walk along the berm of the forest road back to the entrance to the historic site. Return to the trailhead after 0.9 mile.
Explore More!
Learn more about the Apalachicola National Forest
Apalachicola National Forest Noted for its botanical beauty, the Apalachicola National Forest is the largest National Forest in Florida, sweeping south and west of Tallahassee.For detailed historical background on this site, also visit Explore Southern History
Slideshow
See our photos of Fort Gadsden
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Apalachee Savannas Scenic Byway In the Apalachicola National Forest, the Apalachee Savannas Scenic Byway is a winding stretch of scenic road through expansive wet flatwoods and open pine savannas
Wright Lake Trail At Wright Lake Recreation Area near Sumatra, a day hiking loop along the western edge of the Apalachicola National Forest features an unusual bridge and numerous pitcher plant bogs.
Florida Trail, Vilas to Camel Lake 10.3 miles. Broadening your perspective on Florida's largest national forest, this hike offers an ever-shifting focus from macro to landscape amid habitat diversity in the Apalachicola National Forest. 
Florida Trail, Jewel to Vilas 14.3 miles. Delving deep into the swampy heart of the Apalachicola National Forest, this section spans some of the gnarliest titi and gum swamps you'll see outside of Bradwell Bay.
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