A clearing in the deep forest along the north shore of Lake Jackson reveals a civilization long gone from the face of Florida, the site protected as Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park.
Resources
Overview
Location: Tallahassee
Lat-Lon: 30.501509,-84.313847
Fees: $4-5 per vehicle
Open: 8 AM until sunset daily
Leashed pets welcome
Location
Details
Part of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, this series of six earthen temple mounds and a burial mound have offered up pre-Columbian artifacts for archaeologists to study.
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 traverses the old plantation’s waterworks, crossing an earthen dam once used to irrigate the fields. Water trickles and splashes down the steephead ravines deep in the forest. Between the mounds and the ravines, a walk in this park offers some physical challenges!
Explore the park
Butler Mill Trail - 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