The Port Bougainville Trail is a loop you can hike or bike to explore the frontcountry of this 2,500-acre preserve. About half of it is easy, while the rest is rugged and tricky to follow in spots.
It provides overlooks into the quarries dug in the middle of the tropical forest, and rugged coral rock to wander over into tidal flats.
John scouting along tidal flats in a coastal prairieOn our attempt to do the loop, the tidal flats and quarry were too innudated to ride across. Be mindful of tide charts and water levels in Key Largo.
The fact that there is a “Half Loop” option lets you still explore a minimum of a 1.2 mile loop even when conditions don’t work for the full loop.
Resources
Resources for exploring the area
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Overview
Location: Key Largo
Length: 2.4 mile loop
Trailhead: 25.1761, -80.3695
Address: CR 905 & MM 106, Key Largo
Fees: $2.50 per person at honor box. Includes per-person Monroe County surcharge
Restroom: Composting toilet
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 305-451-1202
Open 8 AM until sunset daily. Leashed pets and bicycles welcome.
Stay on the pathways! Avoid biking down narrow side trails and do not bushwhack.
There are poisonwood and machineel trees throughout the hammock, both of which can cause severe reactions for anyone allergic to poison ivy.
Expect insects no matter the time of year. Always use mosquito repellent. We were advised by an FWC officer not to do this trail during the summer months due to the ferocity of the biting insect population.
As this is a botanical state park, no mosquito control spraying is done here, unlike throughout most of the Florida Keys.
Directions
Driving north on US 1 from John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, keep right at the fork for SR 905 (to Card Sound Rd). The trailhead parking area is on the right after 0.5 mile, in front of a large archway.
Hike
Park next to the archway and follow the pavement into the woods, stopping at the iron ranger to pay your state park entrance fee.
If you’re wondering about the strange look of this entrance, welcome to the Port Bougainvillea that never was, a 1980s condo development that collapsed.
The old condo entranceFortunately, it failed just in time for the state to swoop in and save this incredible botanical wonder before much bulldozing started.
The trail curves past a composting privy, and reaches a major intersection in the pavement, with an island of planted trees and a picnic shelter in the middle.
The picnic area marks the start of the loopIt’s here you see the first Port Bougainville Trail sign. Turn right.
Pay attention to the plant identifications and notice the differences between the trees, although they seem to blend together on both sides of the old road.
There are many types of trees in this hammockNot far off into the woods in this section are the grand champion roughleaf velvetseed and boxleaf stopper, at 17 feet and 19 feet, respectively.
Of the all of the grand champion trees in the hammock, few of them reach 30 feet tall—the 34-foot blolly being a notable exception.
Bench at start of Nature TrailAs you pass a bench to the start of a stone wall on the left, watch for a break in the wall at a quarter mile.
That’s the Nature Trail, which meanders off into the hammock and is not open to bicycles. Pass that by and stay on the paved path.
The pavement ends but the trail continuesAs open sky appears ahead, the pavement ends. Continue along a rough limestone path through a disturbed piece of tropical hammock. Arrows mark the route.
The forest closes in again, providing dappled shade, and you can see one of the quarries through the trees to the left.
The Half Loop junction decision pointAt a junction with a “Half Loop” sign, continue straight ahead, following the “Full Loop” sign.
A side trail to the left soon after led to a view of the quarry where a ramp once crossed to the opposite side but was now under water.
Pile of rocks along the quarry crossingPast this stop, the trail leads out of the tropical forest onto a rocky berm on the edge of a coastal prairie.
Making a sharp left at a T with an “Area Closed” sign to the right, the trail started to parallel a mangrove swamp.
Riding into the mangrove swampAlthough the coral rock kept the trail mostly out of the water, salt water lapped up to its edges and created puddles.
Eventually the trail plunged into the salt water at a mile. We walked along it a little trying to figure out where it went next.
Salt water isn’t kind to bike framesAs we were riding our bikes, we chose to turn around rather than try to make our way through an unknown amount of squishy salt flats.
Returning to the “Half Loop” sign at 1.2 miles, we made a right and followed the trail through a tunnel of tropical forest to the other side of the quarries.
Junction with the Half LoopAt the T intersection with the west side of the loop, make a right.
It’s here we lost the trail again. We think that’s because a “Service Vehicles Only” sign was blocking the route shown on our map.
We turned right at that sign and the path clearly led us into an open area adjoining the quarry viewpoint from the other side.
Sign in the trail route shown on the mapSearching around this area, we could not find a continuation of the loop through it, just tall grass and trees hemming in social trails.
Turning around, we continued south along the west side of the loop, passing the Half Loop crossover.
We turned around here on the west side of the loopThe trail adjoined another large quarry, this one with a panorama from its shoreline.
Enjoy the views from the edge, but be aware of the poisonwood trees with their black oozy blotches and avoid brushing against them.
Limestone was excavated from these quarries long agoContinuing along, the trail is in the tropical hammock and broadens to the width of a road.
You can hear cars along Card Sound Road, which isn’t all that far from the trail. The trail curves left, and quickly brings you to the picnic table and butterfly garden.
Broad path on the return tripTurn right to exit out to the parking lot to complete the trail. Our route, not being able to complete the loop, took 3 miles.
As long as you can traverse the trail (our missing link shown in blue) across the coastal prairie, the outer loop is 2.4 miles.
Approaching the butterfly gardenTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park A botanical treasure rescued from developers, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park has the highest concentration of National Champion trees in the United States
Key Largo Hammock Nature Trail On the interpretive Key Largo Hammock Nature Trail, tunnel into the largest tropical forest in the United States to enjoy its natural beauty while learning about its unusual treesSlideshow
See our photos of Key Largo Hammock
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge Protecting more than 6,700 acres of Key Largo to provide prime habitat for the endangered American crocodile, Crocodile Lake NWR has a small visitor complex where you can learn about species conservation at the refuge.
Pennekamp Grove Trail If you've ever wondered where Key limes came from, take a walk on the 0.5-mile Grove Trail at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to see of one of the historic groves of Key Largo.
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Spanning from Key West to Key Largo, this 108-mile linear state park corridor is an island-hopping slice of tropical paradise along the former route of the Florida Overseas Railroad.
Pennekamp Wild Tamarind Trail Tunneling into the deep shade of the Key Largo Hammock, the Wild Tamarind Trail provides a close-up look at a not-so-common forest. Official Website
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