Hiking Graham Swamp West

It’s the water lilies that capture your attention from the observation deck at the Graham Swamp West trailhead, dotting a placid pond.

When we first visited this spot for for 50 Hikes in North Florida , only one trail led into the woods behind the kiosk–the Red Trail.

Lily-dotted pond at Graham Swamp West

This narrative covers that mile-long meander into Graham Swamp, but the Red Trail is now joined by a multi-use path, the Graham Swamp Trail.

It, too, leaves this trailhead, but as a broader, flatter surface tracing the north edge of the swamp basin. The Red Trail joins it for its finish after it loops this picturesque pond.

The Graham Swamp Trail through the sand pines

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover

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Overview

Location: Palm Coast
Length: 1 mile loop
Trailhead: 29.53766, -81.20580
Address: 1125 Old Kings Hwy, Palm Coast
Fees: None
Restroom: None
Land manager: Flagler County
Phone: 386-313-4020

Open daylight hours. Leashed pets permitted.

Directions

From Interstate 95 exit 289, Palm Coast, drive east on Palm Coast Pkwy and turn right on Old Kings Rd. Continue south 1.4 miles to the Graham Swamp West trailhead on the left.

Hike

Find the entry point for the Red Trail to the right of the kiosk adjoining the overlook. The hike begins by following the southern edge of a large blackwater pond.

Beautiful sand bluffs on the far shore host a forest of sand pines. Cool coastal breezes push water lilies across the water.

Open water view from the second deck

Pause to take in the view from a second observation deck, this one giving a better look at open water and the habitats surrounding the pond.

The trail descends from sand pine scrub into dark hammock of sweetgum and loblolly bay, meeting a trail junction at 0.2 mile.

Well-worn path in dense forest

Straight ahead, the trail keeps going around the pond. Taking a right leads you on an trek deeper into Graham Swamp.

Blazed red, the trail was not as well maintained in this half-mile balloon section when we revisited it.

Faded red blaze on a cypress trunk

Dropping through a floodplain forest of bald cypress, the trail rises up onto a small ridge under the shade of southern magnolias.

It parallels a shallow tannic creek from which cypress knees protrude. Squishy dark soil is a reminder the trail can flood.

Leaf-strewn footpath

A wooden bridge spans a creek in a low floodplain, leading the trail deeper into the swamp.

An astute hiker photographed two water moccasins here in spring 2023, so be cautious as you cross.

Footbridge over a waterway

With a little elevation past the creek the trail rises into an oak hammock. The forest floor is thick with coontie, a native cycad with bright red seeds.

Emerging from the hammock, the trail winds through a small stretch of sand pine forest. At 0.3 miles, reach a T intersection at a much smaller pond. Stay right.

Coontie growing in the shade

A dike works its way around the pond, the established trail adjoining it. A second pond is soon on the right.

Stay with the trail, which may be indistinct, to continue circling the pond to your left in the shade of the forest. A creek eventually parallels the path.

Red blazes mark the route

Emerging from the shade, turn with the curve of the pond, continuing back to the trail junction.

The loop complete, keep right to retrace your path along the red blazes to the bridge and through the dense forest to the original intersection at the big pond.

Cypress and palms tower overhead

Reaching this junction at 0.7 mile, bear right. The much broader, more well-defined footpath around this pond provides panoramas between breaks in the trees.

Cross a plank bridge over the outflow. Royal and cinnamon ferns line a shaded opening onto the lake along a bayhead.