Abandoned for years due to rising waters, the Yellow Trail at Fox Lake Sanctuary has been relocated slightly and reopened.
Circling a marsh-edged peninsula along Fox Lake, it balances on boardwalks through lakefront wetlands to reach forested high points with lakefront views.
View along Fox LakeFollowing it clockwise off the Red Trail, we discovered its rerouting into drier landscapes at both ends.
Add it to your traverse of the entire trail system for a 5 mile circuit, or walk the route described below for a fascinating 4 mile hike.
One of the wetland boardwalksResources
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Overview
Location: Titusville
Length: 4 mile balloon loop
Trailhead: 28.588660, -80.874806
Address: 4400 Fox Lake Rd, Titusville
Fees: Free
Restroom: Near Pavilion I in Fox Lake Park
Land manager: Brevard County
Phone: 321-264-5185
Open 7 AM to dusk. Pets are not permitted. Insect repellent is a must. Trails may be soggy or under water after a rain.
Maps are being replaced at key trail junctions. We hope the mileage signs will be too, as changes to the trail system have rendered some of them inaccurate.
Directions
From Interstate 95 exit 215 in Titusville, take SR 50 east to the major traffic light at SR 405. Turn left. Drive north on SR 405 for 2.2 miles. Turn left at the traffic light for Fox Lake Rd. Follow it to where it ends at Fox Lake Park. Turn right and follow the one-way road through the park. When it turns away from the boat ramp, look for the trailhead kiosk against the trees near Pavilion I.
Hike
Start this hike as you would a full traverse of the hiking trail system, beginning at the Fox Lake Sanctuary kiosk within Fox Lake Park.
Perched on high ground along the lake’s marshy edge, the Blue Trail forms a shared entrance for all users. At the trail junction with a map, turn right.
Follow the blue marker beyond the trail junctionSometimes soggy, the footpath keeps close to the rim of a bayhead swamp along the lake before emerging onto a white sand slope.
Descend towards the lake and make a hard left into the woods. Loblolly bay trees tower overhead and the footpath is rooty, with saw palmetto leaning in close.
Blue trail through bayheadPass a gap to an abandoned trail before crossing a cut through the woods dense with golden-hued grasses, entering deep shade beyond it.
Reach the junction with the Red Trail beneath a trio of triple-trunked trees at 0.7 mile. Turn right to follow the red blazes, walking on soft ground.
Start of the Red TrailPast a massive rootball, come to a bench and observation deck. Walk out for a look at a cove where herons gather and otters chase fish through the shallows.
The footpath tracks close to the water’s edge, squishy and rooty, before ascending into the trees to higher ground.
View from the observation deckMeet a signposted Yellow Trail junction at 1.1 miles. Orange flagging tape had been broken off the sign when we scouted this route.
Finding a gloppy bog a few paces beyond the sign, we suspect this kiosk will be moved. Our return route along the yellow blazes did not come through this bog.
Approaching the old Yellow Trail junctionContinue along the red blazes, climbing through a bayhead drainage to emerge at a crossing with the multi-use trail on a sand road.
Walk across it to immerse in scrub habitat. A bald eagle soared overhead; lizards skittered into leaf litter.
Watching an eagle far aboveWinding between rusty and shiny lyonia and a variety of scrub oaks, reach a puddle of shade under a cluster of sand live oaks, the trail curving right.
Cross the multi-use again trail, the next red blaze directing you onto a different broad sandy road through the scrub.
Intersection of sand roadsMeet the second junction with the Yellow Trail at 1.4 miles. Pass the sign and continue along the sandy road, now following yellow blazes.
As it descends, the trail narrows, the two-track filling with water in deep ruts at a bayhead drainage.
Yellow blaze just past the trail junction signRound a scrubby curve and pay heed to the yellow-tipped post guiding you into the oak scrub. Cross a short bridge over a bayhead outflow.
A bench tempts under lichen-dotted sand live oaks. Pause for a break before winding between the saw palmetto under the oaks to a boardwalk.
Shady spot with benchSurprisingly long, the broad boardwalk sits low as it weaves through in its marshy surroundings.
It narrows to a single plank across dark, fern-dotted waters to reach a ridge topped with oaks, palms, and incredibly tall loblolly pines.
Walking the planksSkirting the marsh’s edge, climb to higher ground briefly before the next boardwalk, this one through a stand of sawgrass. Avoid brushing bare skin against its sharp blades.
Once it gains a little elevation, the boardwalk is flanked by ferns and saw palmetto under loblolly bay and wax myrtle.
Boardwalk through sawgrassIt ends at another ridge in the marsh topped with tall pines, providing a view of Fox Lake framed by moss-draped oaks and saw palmetto.
Along a scrim of scrub, walk the narrow ridge, emerging at a bench overlooking the open waters of the lake at 1.7 miles.
Bench along Fox LakeBeyond it, the footpath tracks close to the shoreline, coming to a rough marked landing for the kayak trail carved between the saw palmetto.
Ascending, pass a double-trunked pine before dropping to a brief rough crossing in a bayhead.
The kayak landingFrom the wooded ridge, enjoy more lake views whenever the corridor isn’t compressed by walls of saw palmetto. Streamers of Spanish moss sway in the oaks.
At the tip of this peninsula in Fox Lake, one last view of the open sky over the lake is edged by cabbage palms.
Palms and willows along the lakeshoreThe the footpath turns away from the marsh to follow a freshly cut corridor into scrubby flatwoods.
Yellow-tipped posts mark where the trail crosses a sandy forest road at 1.9 miles, joining a worn path through clusters of tall chalky bluestem.
Curving through the scrubAs the grasses thin, a well-defined corridor cuts through the dense understory of the scrubby flatwoods. At 2.1 miles, meet a T intersection where blaze posts indicate a left turn.
Now on a wider two-track road, continue through the sweep of flatwoods, scattered pines rising above the thicket of lyonia and saw palmetto.
Confirmation blazesA dampening footpath nourishes clusters of tiny carnivorous sundews, their sticky leaves bright as globs of strawberry jam.
Pass a blaze post just before a drainage where gravel has been added to the forest road to stablize it against the water flowing through.
Graveled drainageMuch more water drains over the path from an upland wetland soon after, the muddy hump between tire tracks the only dry spot.
Climbing through the flatwoods, meet a junction with a sand road. A sign for the multi-use trail points right. Turn left.
Sand road junctionFlanked by dense scrub, the sand road ascends quickly and meets the Red Trail crossing at 2.7 miles, sealing your loop. Turn left.
Walk through the low bayhead and pass the original junction marker for the Yellow Trail. Return along the Red Trail for a half mile, passing the observation deck and bench.
Shady junction of Red and Blue TrailsMeeting the Blue Trail at 3.3 miles, turn left. Follow it back along its rooty route through the saw palmetto and loblolly above the edge of Fox Lake.
Climb the white sand hill and curve through the squishy stretch. Make a left at the map to walk the pretty corridor out to the trailhead kiosk, ending this hike after 4 miles.
Exit along the path through the palmettoTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Fox Lake Sanctuary
Fox Lake Sanctuary Protecting more than 2,500 acres along the western edge of Titusville, Fox Lake Sanctuary provides an immense landscape for exploration.Slideshow
See our photos from this hike
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