Lake Jackson Mounds is best known for being one of the largest ceremonial temple mound complexes in the Southeast, but it offers a cool, shady nature trail, too.
There are six earthen temple mounds, the tallest 36 feet; a burial mound; and a village site from the early Fort Walton period, 1200-1500 A.D.
In more modern times, this land was a plantation that belonged to Florida’s first Surveyor General, Colonel Robert Butler, in the mid-1800s. The Butler Mill Trail visits points of interest in his plantation’s waterworks.
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Overview
Location: Tallahassee
Trailhead: 30.5008, -84.314
Address: 3600 Indian Mounds Rd, Tallahassee
Fees: $4-5 per vehicle
Restroom: In the picnic area
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 850-487-7989
Open 8 AM to 5 PM. Leashed dogs welcome. Do not climb on the mounds except by using the provided staircases. Beware of poison ivy off-trail.
Directions
From the US 27 (Monroe St) exit of Interstate 10, drive north on US 27 for 1.7 miles to Crowder Rd. Turn right and drive one mile, down the hill through a residential area to Indian Mounds Road. Turn right. The road ends inside the park.
Hike
While the Butler Mill Trail is a short hike, it’s a very pleasant one, offering changes in terrain that add to the fun.
The trail starts at the very end of the parking area and heads right into the shade of the hardwood forest. In spring, this is a perfect place to see trillium and columbine in bloom.
At the fork in the trail, keep right. The footpath rises up through a grove of tall pines and magnolias. It jogs towards an outcrop where water burbles down a steep slope – an old earthen dam – and parallels the trail.
This is Butler’s Mill Creek, once tapped by a grist mill for grinding power. The mill site is just after the bridge.
The cool draft you feel from the left is coming from the steephead ravine up the slope on the right, where seepage springs add to the flow of Butler’s Mill Creek via a tributary.
Erosion has made the former loop around the creek impassible, so return the way you came. At the trail junction, turn right to cross the floodplain, taking the bridge over the creek.
Make the next right to walk up the other side of the ravine on an old earthen dike. Towering trees make for a pleasant walk with glimpses into the ravine.
At the fenced-off trail closure, turn around and return to the trail coming from the bridge. Make a right to walk uphill away from it. This footpath reaches a T intersection for two more round-trips.
To the right, the spur trail makes its way through the woods to a walk-in entrance from a local neighborhood. To the left, the footpath winds along the lower portion of the creek.
Following this footpath until it becomes indistinguishable, you can spy the back side of the largest mound through the sparse winter foliage of the hardwood forest.
Return to the three-way trail intersection and turn right. Continue across the boardwalk and bridge in the ravine to the trail you came in on from the parking area and mill site.
Turn right to exit. Don’t forget to explore the temple mounds before you leave, and to tackle the Old Orchard Trail starting on the opposite side of the parking area.
Trail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Lake Jackson Mounds
Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park A clearing in the deep forest along the north shore of Lake Jackson reveals reminders of a civilization long gone from the face of Florida. Video
Hiking the Butler Mill Trail at Lake Jackson Mounds
Slideshow
See our photos from the Butler Mill Trail
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