Protecting 845 acres of the Lake Wales Ridge, Lake June-in-Winter Scrub Preserve State Park has one of the highest concentrations of rare and endemic plants in North America.
The trailhead of the park is in a less sensitive habitat, where a tannic run rises from a bayhead swamp and flows towards the lake.
The quarter-mile Tomoka Trail is a nature trail that leads you into this well-shaded and often soggy habitat.
Tomoka CreekResources
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Overview
Length: 0.3 mile loop
Trailhead: 27.29677, -81.42013
Address: 630 Daffodil St, Lake Placid
Fees: $2 per vehicle
Restroom: vault toilet
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 863-386-6094
Open 8 AM to sunset. Disturbing or removing plants and the use of drones prohibited. Leashed pets permitted.
A sheltered picnic table adjoins the trailhead. Kayaks or canoes can be hand-launched at the bottom of this hill along a marshy shoreline.
Directions
From downtown Lake Placid at the intersection of US 27 and CR 621, drive north on US 27 for 1.5 miles, passing the tall former observation tower, and make a left on Lake June Rd. Continue 4 miles west along this road. Make a left on Daffodil St at the lakeshore. Continue south 2 miles to the preserve entrance.
Hike
Start your hike at the Tomoka Run Trail sign and turn right. Take the left fork, which descends from an oak scrub into a hardwood hammock.
A bayhead of loblolly bay trees with a forest floor of cinnamon ferns soak up the precious moisture.
Sunlight dapples across the tea-colored flow of Tomoka Run as it bubbles over ledges on its rapid decent to the lake.
Crossing a bridge, the trail rises up a steep hill towards the scrub, and turns to the right past a bench to follow the run. The burbling waters echo through the forest.
Crossing back over the run, the trail turns left and heads upstream through an oak hammock.
Pause a moment to savor this leafy green grotto, where the ribbon of tannic orange water slices through the soft sand of the ridge.
Making a sharp right, the trail continues uphill into an oak scrub under the slash pines.
At the T intersection, turn right, walking under the Spanish moss-draped scrub live oaks past a bench.
Descending downhill, you reach the end of the loop at 0.3 mile. Turn left to return to the parking lot.
Bubbling waters of Tomoka RunTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Lake June-in-Winter Scrub Preserve
Lake June-in-Winter Scrub Preserve State Park Protecting 845 acres of the whitest, brightest sand on the Lake Wales Ridge, Lake June-in-Winter Scrub Preserve State Park has one of the highest concentrations of rare plants in North America.Slideshow
See our photos from Lake June-in-Winter Scrub Preserve
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Lake June-in-Winter Scrub Trails A trio of trails following established firelines provides a challenging 3.5 mile walk in Florida's own desert for an up close look at uncommon species endemic to ancient scrub.
Lake Placid Scrub Home to Florida scrub-jays, this 3.5 mile loop in the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife & Environmental Area provides views of the lake and a walk through ancient scrub.
Highlands Hammock State Park One of Florida's oldest state parks, Highlands Hammock protects an old-growth forest while enabling you to explore it on a network of fascinating interpretive nature trails 
Fisheating Creek Beloved of paddlers and largely protected by Fisheating Creek WMA, South Florida's wildest waterway rises south of Lake Placid and flows towards Lake Okeechobee.