Hiking Price’s Scrub State Park

In a nod to the region’s high biodiversity, Price’s Scrub State Park was acquired by the state for preservation in 2002.

Along with Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park and Goethe State Forest, this property is an element of a conservation project known as the North Marion Greenway.

Miles of multi-use trails provide opportunity to explore the natural scenery on foot, bicycle, or horseback.

Grassy forest road with pines and bluestem grasses

Grassy forest roads make up the trail system

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

Five Star Trails Gainesville Ocala book cover

North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us provide public information on this website.

Overview

Location: McIntosh
Length: 2.7 mile loop
Trailhead: 29.455491, -82.281026
Address: 9555 NW Highway 320, Micanopy
Fees: Free
Restrooms: Portable toilet at trailhead
Land managers: Florida State Parks
Phone: 352-466-3397

Open 8 AM to sunset. Dogs are allowed on a leash.

Directions

From Interstate 75 at Micanopy, head west on CR 234 for 3.5 miles before turning left onto NW Hwy 320. In 1.9 miles, the park entrance is located on the left side of the road.

Hike

Starting at the parking area, head north though a fence gap, reaching an intersection of trails in less than a hundred feet.

Turn right, following a wide sandy pathway for a short distance before the trail bends to the left, entering a forest of pond pine.

Grassy forest road edged by bluestem grasses and pines

Grassy pathway though the pines

Saw palmettos and fetterbush lyonia carpet the open pine savanna, accented with wildflowers sporting vibrant seasonal blooms.

Goldenrod and blazing stars accent the woodlands in yellow and purple in the fall, and hairy laurels produce small pink flowers resembling mountain laurels found further north.

Fetterbush lyonia

Reaching a trail junction at 0.3 mile, turn left to follow a grassy corridor northward. Scrub oaks and sand pine begin to dot the landscape.

The distinctive aroma of vanillaleaf fills the air. In 0.4 mile, make a right towards the “E” trail loop.

Scrubby flatwoods

Grass gives way to bright white sugar sand while the path leads into a distinctive scrubby flatwoods habitat.

Clusters of reindeer moss emerge from a leaf-covered forest floor alongside dense groups of myrtle oak and lyonia.

Sand pines

Curious bunches of candyroot dot the ground, distinguished by their sage-colored leaves and fluffy lemon-yellow flowers.

In a short distance, turn to the right to begin the loop in a counterclockwise direction.

Candyroot

Scrubby features become less evident as the trail winds to the north. Sand live oaks draped with Spanish moss arch over the trail.

Shining sumac sprouts from the brush with leaves that turn deep red in the wintertime.

Moss covered oaks

The trail has potential to be soggy on western side of the loop as it skirts a line of mesic flatwoods surrounding a bayhead.

Soft clusters of sphagnum moss blanket the lower spots as bay trees and ferns flank the path.

Mesic flatwoods

Drier conditions return where the trail continues southward, with an occasional Chapman’s oak or sand pine sapling growing from sandy terrain.

Returning to the beginning of the loop in 1.3 miles, retrace your steps southward towards the entrance, reaching the trailhead after another 0.7 mile.