A dazzling array of swamp sunflowers await each fall at Lake Jesup Wilderness, an expansive wetland area along the northern shore of Lake Jesup in the Lake Jesup Conservation Area.
The trail system zigzags through prairies that flood during the wet season before clambering onto a berm to tunnel beneath a canopy of cabbage palms.
Scenic views across the lake and its prairies, as well as great birding, make this an interesting, if not often soggy, place to hike.
John hiking through the tall sunflowersResources
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Overview
Location: Sanford
Length: 2.9 mile round-trip with loop
Trailhead: 28.727200, -81.263533
Address: 5951 S. Sanford Ave, Sanford
Fees: Free
Restroom: None
Land manager: Seminole County
Phone: 407-665-2211
Open dawn to dusk. Leashed dogs welcome.
It can be very buggy here so bring repellent. Insects depend on season and wetness.
Trail is shared with off-road cyclists and equestrians. Lake Jesup Park is a popular launch point for boaters.
Directions
From Interstate 4 in Lake Mary, follow Lake Mary Blvd east past SR 417 to Sanford Ave, one block past Ronald Reagan Blvd (SR 427). Turn right on Sanford Ave and drive to the end of the road, which enters Lake Jesup Park.
Hike
Starting at the trailhead, walk out under some very large oaks to the kiosk and beyond that, into the floodplain of Lake Jesup.
There are times this can’t be hiked at all due to water levels, and times it is spectacular.
When water is low and the sunflowers are blooming (late September through mid October), it feels like walking through a fairy wonderland, with blooms towering over your head.
It takes about a quarter mile of hiking through the floodplain to get to the main part of the trail.
After crossing a bridge over a small ditch, you reach a berm topped with a forest of planted cabbage palms.
This bridge crosses a muck-bottomed ditchAt this T intersection, the trail runs in both directions. It’s as linear as it gets because there is nowhere to go but the berm.
We figure the berm was built with mud dredged out to make the ditch, which in turn drained the surrounding landscape into the lake to make it better for cattle.
A tunnel of cabbage palms on the bermThis cabbage palm forest is nice and shady. If you want, you can follow the trail to the left up to a loop through the palms, adding a half mile or so to the hike, but we turned right.
That’s because the best views of the sunflowers and Lake Jesup itself are in this direction.
View across the floodplain to Lake JesupThere are spots where the berm is washed out and you must scramble into and out of. Water levels determine how passable these are.
One of the gaps is especially wide and can be mucky underfoot. We were fortunate to find it passable to the last part of the berm.
Crossing a wide gap in the bermThe final segment of berm is headed straight for SR 417, the toll road that crosses Lake Jesup.
While you can’t see the cars, you can certainly hear them. Then the trail makes a sharp turn away from the road towards the lake.
Follow the red arrowsThis is the South Loop, and we found it difficult to follow as it was very overgrown.
We don’t know how often it is maintained since it can be easily cut off from the rest of the trail by water levels.
There was a bench along the South LoopWhile it was tricky to follow, keep looking for those red arrows. It eventually loops back to the berm you came in on.
Turn left and retrace your route back to the trailhead, crossing the open spots again. Enjoy the views of the sunflowers.
Trail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Lake Jesup Conservation Area
Lake Jesup Conservation Area
Protecting large swaths of marshy shoreline, the Lake Jesup Conservation Area filters runoff from surrounding suburbia while providing places to hike along Lake Jesup
More articles about visiting Lake Jesup Wilderness
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September is the time to see swamp sunflowers in bloom, and there’s no better in-your-face place to see them up close in the Orlando area than Lake Jesup Wilderness in Sanford.
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Swamp Sunflower
One of Florida’s showiest wildflowers, the swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius) comes into its glory in numerous locations around the state in the fall
Slideshow
See our photos of Lake Jesup Wilderness
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Lake Jesup Marl Bed Flats
For the broadest panorama along the south shore of Lake Jesup, follow this mile-long loop through lush oak hammocks and open prairies in a rural corner of Sanford
Lake Jesup Cameron Tract
On a mile-long loop in grassy prairies along Lake Jesup, enjoy palm-framed panoramas of the open prairies along the lakeshore
Lake Jesup East Tract
Savor the bird’s-eye view of one of the largest lakes in the Orlando metro from a tall observation tower along this 2.1-mile loop hike in Oviedo
Spring Hammock Preserve
Protecting more than 1,500 acres along Lake Jesup, Spring Hammock Preserve is home to some of Florida’s oldest and largest cypress trees