Is it a natural feature, or man-made? The ridge running along the eastern side of Graham Swamp has elements that lean both ways.
While it feels a lot like the diggings of the Cross Florida Greenway, it drops off precipitously towards the swamp, providing outstanding views of the floodplain below.
View into the floodplainYet it is topped with well-established habitats, including sandhill with towering pines and scrub trees of uncommonly large size.
Spills of limestone boulders, metal dragline cables embedded in the earth, and deep cuts holding water add the likelihood of mine tailings from nearby operations.
Hillside with bouldersNo matter its origin, the ridge sets the stage for a fantastic hike on a linear footpath flanked by a popular mountain bike loop, with intersections occuring only at both ends.
Signage encourages hikers to make a loop of it using the paved Graham Swamp Trail as a return route, but this 1.1 mile roller-coaster of a hike is too much fun not to hike twice.
Furrowed descent near the north end of the trailResources
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Overview
Location: Palm Coast
Length: 2.2 miles
Trailhead: 29.508319, -81.161709
Address: 5135 Colbert Ln, Palm Coast
Fees: Free
Restroom: Portable toilet at trailhead
Land Manager: Flagler County
Phone: 386-313-4020
Open sunrise to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome; pick up after your pet.
Directions
From Flagler Beach / Bunnell exit 284 off Interstate 95 at SR 100, drive east 1.8 miles, passing under the Graham Swamp Trail bridge before reaching the light at Colbert Ln. Turn left and drive north on Colbert Ln, passing the Lehigh Trail trailhead after 1.9 miles. Continue another half mile to the Graham Swamp East trailhead, which is also on the left.
Hike
A large kiosk with trail map and signs for the hiking trail guide you through the pass-through at the corner of the parking area.
Start uphill on a moderately steep path under the cedars and oaks, crossing the bike trail twice in quick succession.
Start your hike hereReach the relatively flat top of the ridge, where slash pines and oaks define the sandhill habitat. Coontie peeps from the pine duff.
Curving north upon nearing the west side of the ridge, peer into the floodplain forest of Graham Swamp below, largely cypress and red maples.
Top of the ridge facing west towards the floodplainUnder towering slash pines on the ridgetop, immerse in the sandhills, the sandy path easy to follow but also marked with red blazes and occasional blue metal hiker markers.
Where the path nudges closer to the edge of the ridge, it’s striking to see the distinct difference in habitats from this perspective.
Scrub tunnelA subtle shift to scrubby flatwoods occurs. The myrtle oaks under the pines are quite sizable, as robust silk bays, some standing nearly to twenty feet tall.
Tunnel under a succession of scrub oaks, silk bays, and red cedars, emerging into another patch of sandhill with tall skinny pines.
Ridgetop sandhillsCross an old two-track access road at 0.2 mile. Slipping through a patch of scrub oaks, the footpath narrows into a furrow.
Curving through a stand of young pines into a switchback downhill. A footbridge crosses the low spot.
Murky ditchA murky ditch beyond the paralleling bike path must occasionally spill over to the swamp, posing the question whether this divot out of the ridge this is a natural feature.
Discovering many ancient dragline cables embedded in the earth, we think limestone was intentionally removed from this ridge by a mining operation.
Climbing to the ridgetopAscend out of the basin, using roots as stairsteps on the climb to the ridge top. Slash pines and a turkey oak signal sandhills yet scrub oaks and silk bay hem in the trail corridor.
Step over the first of the ancient dragline cables, its wound metal wiring taut like a tree root.
Cable embedded in the footpathA long, straight plunge through a low dip in the ridge is followed by a steeply winding ascent.
Where the ridge narrows, the paralleling singletrack remains close by but does not cross the trail. Rimmed with moss, chunks of limestone jut from the foopath.
Plunge through a dipBy a half mile, ascend to a height where the slash pines tower over the oaks once more.
Rounded and grassy, the sweep of the hillside dropping to the swamp feels more natural. Spanish moss drapes from bluejack oaks.
Grassy hillside sloping to Graham SwampFollow minor twists and turns punctuated by straightaways. The understory opens up briefly on the approach to a stand of ancient saw palmetto and columns of pines.
Traverse mild hills on the ridgetop beneath the pines with occasional steep climbs.
Mild step-upViews into Graham Swamp become more common, the footpath cut as sidehill on an approach to a climb through folded terrain.
Descend a rocky slope with roots as stairsteps, the steepest grade thus far on a drop into a large basin.
It’s steeper than it looksAt the bottom, bridges on the singletrack loop flank the footpath, which crosses a rock-and-gravel bridge over an ephemeral waterway.
A finger of the wetland within Graham Swamp extends into view this carve-out in the ridge.
Climb out of the basinAt 0.8 mile, climb out of the basin on a straightforwardly steep run to the top of the ridge.
The forest is very different here: the setting park-like with an open understory, the hillsides sweeping gently towards the base of the ridge and views of the swamp.
If cyclists are on the singletrack, you’re most likely to notice them whizzing by in this area.
On the hilltopDescend through the pines, noting exposed cables. Large boulders of limestone are strewn across the forest floor, adding to the mining theory.
The habitat shifts to sandhills again, with some of the pines once deeply cut with catfaces to tap for turpentine.
Catfaced pineAnother park-like setting emerges, the open understory making it easy to look out over the swamp.
Descend a furrowed grade beneath the pines, a straightaway leading to an intersection with signage at the final crossing of the singletrack loop at 1.1 miles.
Signage at the junctionWalk a causeway between two ponds to the fence along Colbert Lane where signage points right for a 1.1 mile walk along the Graham Swamp Trail back to the trailhead.
Since that paved route is entirely in the sun, we chose to retrace our steps with a round-trip traverse of the ridge, experiencing the descents and climbs in a different sequence.
Trail’s end at a gate to a paved segment of the Graham Swamp TrailReturning through the woods provided better views of Graham Swamp, too, and more attentiveness to artifacts and unusually large silk bays.
Whichever route you choose, return to the Graham Swamp East trailhead to complete the 2.2 mile hike.
Looking across Graham Swamp near the 2 mile mark on a ridgetop returnTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Graham Swamp Preserve
Graham Swamp Preserve A freshwater swamp forest less than two miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Graham Swamp Preserve is where Bulow Creek rises to flow south.Video
Hiking Graham Swamp East
Slideshow
See our photos from Graham Swamp East
Nearby Adventures
Graham Swamp West On a mile hike within sand pine scrub and a lush swamp forest, circle two placid blackwater ponds on the western side of Graham Swamp.
Princess Place Preserve Explore wild spaces and cultivated grounds along eight different trails at Princess Place Preserve, an 1880s homestead at Cherokee Grove on Pellicer Creek. 
Faver-Dykes State Park At Faver-Dykes State Park, explore the estuaries of the Matanzas River and the uplands above Pellicer Creek.
Bulow Woods Loop In a primordial forest of sluggish, fern-lined waterways amid a dense forest of massive, ancient trees, the 5.2 mile Bulow Woods Loop is one of North Florida's most scenic hikes.
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