Along a tributary of the Peace River, Paynes Creek Historic State Park encompasses a landscape where an important turn of American history occurred in the 1840s.
In response to an attack at the trading post on Paynes Creek, Fort Chokonikla was the first of a string of U.S. Army forts built across South Central Florida.
Map of the forts as seen in the park museumConstructed in 1849, Fort Chokonikla anchored a line of forts towards Fort Pierce for the U.S. Army to contain the Seminole people along a newly modified boundary of Seminole lands.
Paynes Creek flows into the Peace River. A network of four miles of trails interprets both habitats and history, with a swinging footbridge connecting key locations.
The Peace RiverResources
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Overview
Location: Bowling Green
Length: 4.6 mile trail network
Trailhead: 27.626243,-81.808709
Address: 888 Lake Branch Rd, Bowling Green
Fees: $3 per vehicle
Restroom: At the visitor center and picnic area
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 863-375-4717
Open 8 AM to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome.
The trail from the parking area to the museum and the Fort Chokonikla Trail behind the museum are accessible.
Directions
Follow US 17 south from Barstow to Bowling Green. In Bowling Green, turn left onto Main St and follow it east a quarter mile to Lake Branch Rd. Turn right and drive 1.1 miles. The park entrance is on the right. Make the first right along the entrance road to park in front of the visitor center.
About the Park
Flowing into the Peace River, the creek called Hatse Lotka by the Seminoles marked the boundary of an uneasy truce.
When the seven-year Second Seminole War ended in 1842, they were pushed out of more productive lands to the southern part of the Florida peninsula.
Park entranceThat same year, Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act to provide 160 acres of free land and a year’s rations to settlers willing to cultivate and defend it for five years.
The idea was to drive the Indians out. Over the next seven years the influx of settlers led to more conflicts and increased militarization in Florida by the U.S. Army.
A former crossing through Hatse Lotka, now Paynes CreekIn Tampa, a military supplier to Fort Brooke, Thomas Kennedy, was named as the government-appointed Indian trader.
In 1845, Kennedy hired George Payne to run his new trading post on Charlotte Harbor. A few years later, Kennedy teamed up with John Darling, a Tampa man who owned a sloop, to transport supplies.
In the spring of 1849, store manager George Payne emptied out the trading post and moved the goods seventy miles up the Peace River to this new location.
The new Kennedy-Darling Store sat on the bluff above Hatse Lotka on reservation land.
The store’s location is marked in an open field south of the creekThat July, a rogue band of warriors attacked and destroyed the store, killing George Payne and his employee Dempsey Whidden.
The Seminoles attempted to appease the Federal government after this unexpected event, but more ominous repercussions followed the loss of the trading post.
The memorial to the slain storekeepersWithin a few months, the U.S. Army began constructing Fort Chokonikla on high ground above the north bank of what they now called Paynes Creek.
It was the first of a string of forts built across Florida to contain the Seminole. Fort Chokonikla was never attacked, but many soldiers died due to yellow fever and malaria.
The presumed location of Fort ChokoniklaAbandoned in the summer of 1850, Fort Chokonikla faded into the landscape. Ignoring the treaty boundary, settlers pushed south into Seminole lands.
The Federal government did not intervene on the Seminoles’ behalf. In December 1855, Army troops destroyed a large Seminole plantation. The Seminoles retaliated with raids.
Museum exhibit on peace talksIn a series of skirmishes and raids ending in 1858, the Third Seminole War saw the U.S. Army actively target crops to starve tribal members off their lands.
Most agreed to relocate in the “Indian Removal” to Oklahoma. Others, led by leaders refusing to sign another worthless treaty, moved onto the tree islands of the Everglades.
Broken ceramics found at this siteExploring the Park
Inside the museum are a handful of artifacts uncovered during archaeological digs within this 410 acre park, along with details on the Seminole Wars.
Two interpretive trails, the accessible Fort Chokonikla Trail and the longer Historic Trail, lead to those sites as well as a memorial erected to Payne and Demspey.
Park museumTwo short upland loops near the fort site, the Flatwoods and Mary Jane Trails, tally 1.6 miles of habitat immersion.
Starting near the picnic area, the Peace River Trail makes a 1.1 mile loop along the north shore of Paynes Creek to the river.
It provides the best scenic views and wildlife watching within the park.
Mama and baby alligators in a slough along the Peace River TrailHiking
Of the three linked loops within the trail system, the Historic Trail remains the most important one, leading you to several interpretive sites.
The Peace River Trail provides excellent wildlife watching, while the Flatwoods and Mary Jane Trails are good for birding.
Paynes Creek Historic Trail Linking the Peace River Trail and the Flatwoods Trail, a 1.9 mile hike on the Historic Trail provides interpretation of physical sites linked to the Seminole Wars.
Paynes Creek Peace River Trail Discover a scenic shoreline along the Peace River where Paynes Creek empties into the winding, narrow river's tannic flow along this 1.1 mile loop.
Paynes Creek Flatwoods Trail On higher ground behind the museum, the Flatwoods and Mary Jane Trails traverse uplands with scrub and broad prairies at the western end of Paynes Creek Historic State Park.Paddling
Explore the Peace River from a launch point within the park at the end of a dirt road en route to the picnic area. At the launch, maps are posted for paddlers on a large kiosk.
The Peace River Paddling Trail begins in Bartow and has multiple camping areas along it for paddlers who want to go the distance.
Most utilize signposted launches and landings to paddle it downriver in segments.
The park’s primitive launchTrail Map
Explore More!
Slideshow
See our photos of Paynes Creek Historic State Park
Nearby Adventures
Peace River Park On 155 acres fronting the Peace River through the rural Hardee County seat of Wauchula, Peace River Park immerses visitors in the beauty of river bottom hammocks. 
Hardee Lakes County Park A collection of former phosphate pits adjoining the floodplain of Paynes Creek provide anglers and campers with a destination west of the Peace River basin. 
Peace River Hammock Walk softly through the immersive Peace River floodplain beneath enormous trees to a scenic bluff along the river where paddlers can come ashore.
Peace River Park Greenway With river views near its ends, a graded 2.5 mile linear path in Fort Meade follows a slender strip of public land parallel to the east shore of the Peace River. 
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