A 300 acre preserve, Lake Harney Wilderness Area offers an incredible perspective on the St. Johns River floodplain.
It comes from an outstanding accessible observation tower reached via a very long ramp into the forest canopy.
The big roofed platform at Lake Harney WildernessTwo separate loops radiating from the parking area provide gentle walks through this beauty spot, a prime place to see birds, wildflowers, and wildlife.
Ancient live oaks hide the secrets of the once-thriving lumber mill town of Osceola and villages that pre-date it.
The St. Johns River at OsceolaResources
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Overview
Location: Geneva
Length: Up to 2.4 miles
Trailhead: 28.790576,-81.06407
Address: 2187 Osceola Fish Camp Rd, Geneva
Fees: Free
Restroom: None
Land Manager: Seminole County
Phone: 407-665-2211
Open dawn to dusk. Gate locked at dusk. Leashed dogs welcome.
Directions
From the intersection of SR 46 and SR 415 east of Sanford, drive east on SR 46 towards Geneva for 2.8 miles. Turn left on West Osceola Road. The road becomes Osceola Fish Camp Road after 7.6 miles. The large parking area is on the right after another 0.7 mile. Both trails are accessed through the parking area, which also serves as a trailhead for the Flagler Trail, a cross-county bicycle route that bisects this wilderness area.
Hike
From the parking area, walk to the far fence corner opposite from where you drove into the trailhead.
Passing by a large southern magnolia, it’s here you’ll find a gap through the fence to the Floodplain Trail, blazed with orange discs with silver arrows.
Start of the Floodplain TrailFloodplain Trail
As the name suggests, this loop heads into the floodplain of Lake Harney, so if the St. Johns River is in flood stage, it may be impassable. You’ll find out quickly enough.
The good news is, you can also see the floodplain from the immense observation tower along the shoreline, more than three stories tall.
The Floodplain Trail as seen from the towerTo make a beeline to the tower, turn left at the gap and follow the path. Or save it until later as part of this full loop. Continue straight ahead.
Enter a shady hammock of oaks, their limbs knit overhead to form an unbroken canopy, with streamers of Spanish moss draped down catching the sun.
Exiting the hammock to the lakeshoreA gap shows off the lake. Drop rapidly to the lake’s edge through a stand of sweetgum trees.
Flanked by tall cabbage palms and cypresses to the left, join a mowed path with wildflowers on either side.
Signs mark the route in the floodplainThe first glimpse of Lake Harney is a big “wow” moment. Depending on the time of year, the colors of the wildflowers in the foreground may differ.
In summer, tall masses of coreopsis rise between prairie grasses, painting the landscape in flecks of yellow. Fall brings swamp sunflowers to the basin.
Blooms among the grassesIn fall, sea myrtle bursts into fluffy white blooms, attracting colorful butterflies like the tiger swallowtail. Fleabane cascades in purple blooms. Star rush shows off its white tops.
Islands topped with cabbage palms lie in the middle of this vast prairie. A ridge of cabbage palms in tight rows outlines the far shore, cypresses rising behind them.
Walking the edge in the wet seasonThe ribbon of lake may be almost indiscernible in the distance. The distance buzzing sound is airboats, which can navigate any water level.
Make a sharp left to follow the near shoreline, paralleling the forest edge. Cabbage palms, cedars, and pond cypress rise from slightly higher ground.
Nearing the towerReach the base of the tower at 0.3 miles. Stairs lead to the top, but it’s more interesting to loop around to its ramp for the unique tree canopy approach.
Draw parallel to an island of palms in the distance. Speedboats dash through the far channel, white blips against the distant shoreline.
A slash of white defines the distant shorelineCircle the edge of a stand of tall cypresses before the last sweeping view of this wildflower-dotted prairie. Make a sharp left to leave the floodplain.
An orange marker on a fence post confirms your route. The return trip is along a causeway bordered by a small canal.
Leaving the floodplain for the forestPartially shaded by oaks and cypresses, this long straightaway continues under a power line and opens up into a grassy spot dense with blackberry bushes.
At 0.8 miles, meet a concrete walk. Take the wooden ramp leading to the tower for a climb into the tree canopy.
Boardwalk into the treetopsThe view from the platform sweeps across the St. Johns River floodplain, encompassing not just Lake Harney but the SR 46 bridge and beyond.
Descend the ramp and turn left. Pass a large lily-dotted pond before returning to the parking area to complete this loop after 1.1 miles.
The tower provides an overview of the floodplainFlagler Trail & River Trail
Cross the parking area to the entrance side. A historic marker near the start of the Flagler Trail provides context for this separate 1.5 mile hike.
Follow the straightforward railroad grade to start. Passionflower blooms beneath the pines. In the opposite direction, this spur off the Florida East Coast Railroad ends at Chuluota.
Flagler and River Loop TrailsIt once served the thriving timber industry that took the old growth cypress from this region. Now ghost towns, Osceola and Kolokee remain only in name.
Walking between two fenced-off pastures with paralleling power lines, pass the 5 mile marker on the Flagler Trail at 0.2 miles.
Mile marker for the Flagler TrailA tall pine in the pasture on the right cradles an immense eagles’ nest. In spring and summer, it bustles with activity as the eagles raise their young.
Oaks and pines close in along the broad, long, straight corridor. Keep alert for the yellow markers of the River Loop. At 0.4 miles, turn right onto it.
Start of River Loop counterclockwiseMaking a sharp left, tunnel into the deep shade of the forest, a pretty footpath with soft pine duff underfoot.
At 0.6 miles, emerge from the forest at a power line. The St. Johns River is off to the right. Watermarks on the trees show how high the river can rise in flood stage.
Turn under the power linesTurn left to follow the power line easement. The next trail marker is near an old fence line. Picnic benches sit under a large live oak tree.
Make a curve to ascend a large midden. It creates a high bluff above the St. Johns River, home to a settlement the U.S. Army called “King Philip’s Old Town.”
Green space atop the mound and north end of the Flagler TrailRespected tribal leaders Emaltha and his son Coacoochee established it and used it to raid military camps threatening their sovereign lands.
Outspoken against the forced removal of the Seminoles from Florida, Emaltha was captured by U.S. Army forces in late 1837.
Deck atop the ancient shell moundThe observation deck atop the railroad trestle abutment on the shell mound provides a nice view up and down the St. Johns River.
In 1850, this was the crossing for Cook’s Ferry. In 1911, the Flagler Railroad spanned across this abutment on its way to Chuluota.
Upriver from the crossingLeaving this high spot, watch your footing. Straight ahead, the Flagler Trail makes a beeline back to the parking area. Turn right to stay on the yellow-blazed River Loop.
A brown sign marks the location of Osceola, a thriving company town between 1916 and 1940, now a ghost town.
Osceola markerIt centered on the timber mill run by the Osceola Cypress Company, which cut nearly 60,000 board feet of lumber each day.
In its time, it was the biggest industrial complex in the county. But as the bald cypress was logged out, there was nothing left to process.
What cypresses remain are younger than this ghost townAbandoned with the closure of the mill, this site was a fish camp prior to being protected by this preserve.
Directly behind the Osceola sign, a broad path continues upriver, an 0.3 mile round-trip spur leads to the river shoreline.
Riverfront pathThe path ends within sight of a fence marking the property boundary of the preserve. Return to the Osceola sign and make a right to resume the River Loop.
Skirt around an obvious foundation of an old building. At a sharp left, head into the shade of the moss-laden oaks, where a bench awaits.
Bench under an oakWalking beneath these ancient trees, look for foundations and other human-created right angles in the forest.
Making another left, the trail narrows to follow the straightaway of one of the old streets. Homes for 200 people once lined them.
Fern-lined log along a street of the ghost townAt picnic benches in the shade of a large live oak, turn left to complete the River Loop at 1.1 miles. Make a right on the Flagler Trail to exit.
Follow the straightaway to the parking area to complete this 1.5 mile circuit, or up to 2.8 miles of hiking at Lake Harney Wilderness.
An unpaved path on the old railbed, Flagler Trail North continues to GenevaTrail Map
Explore More!
Slideshow
See our photos from Lake Harney Wilderness
Nearby Adventures
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Mullet Lake Park Set along a remote sweep of vast marshes along the St. Johns River, Mullet Lake Park is home to a stunning array of swamp sunflowers each fall. 
Lake Proctor Wilderness Area Protecting 475 acres of of marshes, prairie, sandhill, and scrub, Lake Proctor Wilderness Area echoes with the cries of sandhill cranes across the landscape.
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