Florida Hikes

Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

Sand path through a mesic hammock

Pinecraft Park

Along the east side of Phillippi Creek within the historic Amish enclave of Pinecraft in Sarasota, Pinecraft Park blends nature and recreation.

Sarasota (27.319510, -82.503992)   1.1 miles  

Well known to the Amish as a winter getaway, Pinecraft remains low-key within Sarasota as Florida’s only permanent Amish and Mennonite enclave.

Established in the 1920s as a tourist camp, its core is collection of modest homes. They edge this small county park along Phillippi Creek.

Creek with forest on both sides Phillippi Creek at the launch

Pinecraft Park provides Amish and Mennonite men a gathering place to compete at shuffleboard, and for families to enjoy picnics.

In their distinctive plain clothing, residents ride three-wheel bikes into the park, and often speak among themselves in German dialect common to their community.

Picnic pavilions with houses behind them Community picnic grounds

Two trails enable exploration along Phillippi Creek. The Mesic Hammock Trail is a mazy collection of footpaths in a tangle of vegetation amid undulating terrain.

It was impacted severely by Hurricane Milton, so many of the larger trees are broken or have shredded canopies. The understory is a tangle of vegetation.

Narrow sand path with tire tracks through forest Mesic Hammock Trail

While bikes are officially banned on the nature trail, the footpaths show impacts from off-road riding. No clear route is defined; we scouted one to share with you.

A quarter-mile linear paved trail fronts a ditched portion of Phillippi Creek in the developed portion of the park. A boat ramp below the parking area serves as a launch for paddlers.

Paved path in a park Paved path along Phillippi Creek

Although the mesic hammock teems with ornamental invasive plants, it surprises with the ivory-green blooms of Pigmy fringetrees in March, attention-getting against the saw palmetto.

Scattered across several corners of the forest, these trees are uncommon even in North Florida. Here, they are at southernmost point of their range.

Delicate ivory-green blooms next to leaves Pigmy fringetree blooms

Resources

Resources for exploring the area
Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover 50 Hikes in South Florida book cover Paddlers Guide Florida
 
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Overview

Location: Sarasota
Length: 1.1 miles
Trailhead: 27.319510, -82.503992
Address: 1420 Gilbert Ave, Sarasota
Fees: Free
Restroom: At the trailhead
Land Manager: Sarasota County
Phone: 941-861-5000

Open 6 AM to 10 PM. Bicycles not permitted on the nature trail. Signage says no pets.

Directions


 
From Interstate 75 exit 210, take Fruitville Rd west to the first light, turning left on Cattlemen Rd. Follow it south for 1.2 miles to Bahia Vista St. Turn right and continue 3.2 miles, driving through the heart of Pinecraft. Past Beneva Rd, watch for Gilbert Ave on the left. Turn left and follow it through the community for 0.2 miles to the park entrance on the right.

Hike

This two-part walk begins at the south edge of the park at the entrance to the signposted Mesic Hammock Trail. Cross a bridge into the hammock.

Facing a three-way junction, turn left to start a clockwise circuit. The oak canopy is somewhat sparse, trimmed by hurricanes.

Mesic Hammock Trail sign and pedestrian bridge Entry point

A narrow footpath snakes through a thicket of understory where grapevines swarm and coral bean shows off spiky crimson blooms. Southern red cedar and wild coffee add to the mix.

At a T intersection, the left side dead ends, so bear right. In a tight corridor soon walled by the dense understory, the footpath turns south.

Spiky red flower before T intersection of footpaths Coral bean blooming along the footpath

Duck under the low branches of young trees along a curve, ascending past a tall hickory. Wild coffee becomes more commonplace, sprouting from the leaf litter.

Coming to a junction beyond a stand of marlberry, bear left for a showy descent under large live oaks, rising up to a back gate into the park.

Winding path climbing under large trees Winding path towards the back gate

This side trip is simply to see the stream vigorously flowing out of the neighbohood and into the park. Return the same way to the junction.

Turn left to parallel the stream on a wooded bluff. Pass a yellow-blazed tree, the first sign of any trail markings.

Yellow blaze on tree Blazed tree

Carved through the semi-tropical understory, the footpath opens onto a bluff on a ravine. With a neighborhood on its far side, it is swarmed with landscaping plants.

Visible only from a few perspectives, a narrow channel flows through a largely obscured cleft at its bottom.

Waterway snaking through vegetation Narrow stream in ravine

Leaving the stream on the broad leafy path, climb a winding route through the dense understory past an unusual curlicue of a trunk of a strangler fig that looks like a clef from sheet music.

Bear left. The sandy path slips through a marlberry thicket, emerging into the more open hammock. Young bay trees poke from the understory mix.

Path between trees The mesic hammock

With the entrance bridge straight ahead at 0.3 miles, bear left. This footpath starts a distinct downhill into a hollow with saw palmetto.

A sandy spur to the right ascends to a bluff above Phillippi Creek for a view of a rare natural shoreline along the waterway.

Sand bluff above creek Bluff along Phillippi Creek

Drop back to the main trail to continue a descent with another view of the tannic waterway. Weaving between cabbage palms, the sandy path turns away from the creek.

Climb into a muddled mesic hammock. Descend, arriving at a T with a pathway along the waterway flowing out of the neighborhood, within sight of its confluence of the creek.

Narrow stream meeting wide creek Confluence

The spur to the right overlooks the confluence. Walk upstream to tackle a steep ascent to the bluff paralleling its flow, with peeks through the vegetation towards the water.

Curving past one last view of the waterway at a half mile, keep climbing. Pass a warning sign about a honey bee hive in the area.

Narrow uphill through vegetation Steep climb

A narrowing corridor presses the footpath towards its steepest climb yet. Scramble up the ridge to meet the path you took earlier away from the neighborhood waterway.

Turn left to pass by the oddly shaped strangler fig again and bear left at it to retrace the middle route through the forest.

Musical clef roots on strangler fig Strangler fig

Return to the bridge at 0.6 miles to exit the Mesic Hammock Trail. From the parking area, a paved walkway fronts Pinecrest Park for a quarter mile on a levee above Phillippi Creek.

Add a round-trip along it, past the playground, picnic area, and frequently busy shuffleboard courts to complete a 1.1 mile hike.

Live oaks and magnolias above paved path This oak hammock is the turnaround point

Trail Map

Pinecraft Park Trail Map

Explore More!

Video

Hiking the Mesic Hammock Trail at Pinecraft Park

Slideshow

See our photos from Pinecraft Park

Nearby Adventures

Bike path in pine flatwoods The Legacy Trail Connecting Venice and Sarasota, one of Florida's finest paved trails provides a corridor for biking and hiking along a historic railroad line.
Picnic shelter at Urfer Family Park Urfer Family Park Share nature with the kids along Bee Ridge on 1.4 miles of family-friendly trails in a popular county park with four playgrounds surrounding a 1905 home open for tours.
Shell path under live oaks Phillippi Estate Park A historic mansion and farmhouse anchor this 60-acre county park with paddler access to Phillippi Creek, fishing piers, and shell paths along a coastal hammock.
Slough edged by palms and blooming muhly grass Red Bug Slough Preserve Walk beneath a mature live oak canopy along the rim of a protected waterway within the heart of residential Sarasota.

Official Website

Sandra Friend
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