Walking under ancient live oaks and cabbage palms, it’s hard to believe a town once crowded the wharf where the St. Johns River turns away from the St. Francis Dead River.
Bustling in the late 1800s, St. Francis was all about produce. Growers loaded boatloads of citrus, watermelon, and cabbages onto steamships for markets up north.
Site of the former landing at St. FrancisThe community’s death knell was a triple whammy: freezing weather, hurricane-related flooding, and the wane of the steamboat era.
By the 1940s, the last resident left. The federal government bought up the land for the Ocala National Forest.
Bounded on the north by the Alexander Springs Wilderness and on the east by the mighty floodplain of the St. Johns, the St. Francis Trail is a very enjoyable hike.
Boardwalks cross most of the damp spotsResources
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Overview
Location: Deland
Length: 7.9 mile loop
Trailhead: 29.012710, -81.392275
Fees: Free
Restroom: None
Land Manager: National Forests in Florida
Phone: 352-669-3153
Leashed dogs welcome. No permit required for random camping.
Camping is discouraged during general gun season as this area is popular with hunters. If you hike here during that period, wear bright orange clothing.
Directions
From DeLand, drive north on SR 15 or US 17 to intersect with SR 44. Head west on SR 44 (New York Avenue) for 4.2 miles from SR 15, crossing the bridge over the St. Johns River. Turn right onto SR 42 at the light after the bridge. Watch for the sign on the right – it comes up fast. Turn right at River Forest and drive past the group camp to the trailhead at the end of this short unpaved road.
Hike
At the kiosk in front of the trailhead entrance, take the time to read about St. Francis’ agricultural past before starting out along the white blazes into an upland hammock of oaks.
Well-shaded, the footpath is well-defined and easy to follow through this second-growth forest.
Trailhead entranceOrange blazes peeping out under white ones are a reminder of the reason for this trail. It was built in the 70s as a potential route for the Florida National Scenic Trail.
After a short bridge, turn left and head deeper into the woods. Despite the size of the trees, they’ve grown atop a farm’s furrows, wavy shapes still obvious in the forest floor.
Painted-over orange blazeMats cover some dips, placed there long ago by trail maintainers to help stop erosion in the low spots.
After a small bridge a long boardwalk begins, the first of many along the trail. Thanks to constant humidity, ferns and fungi are prolific, the surroundings primordial.
Yellow Loop junctionCrossing a bridge over a tannic waterway, reach the first junction with the Yellow Loop at a sign at 1.2 miles. Pass it by to continue towards St. Francis.
After another bridge over a stream, walk beneath towering southern magnolia and loblolly bay to Confusion Corners, which has several marked trail junctions.
Bridge before Confusion CornersTurn right at the “St. Francis, 2 miles” sign to start the loop portion of this hike. Walking it clockwise reaches river views more quickly.
Enter a lush cabbage palm hammock. Sunlight filters through the fronds to create an illuminating glow.
The way to St. FrancisRise out of the floodplain to skim the edge of a vast pine forest stretching west, largely in planted rows.
The trail keeps up this wobble for a while: in the pines one moment, passing under an especially large loblolly pine, and into the palms the next.
Walking through planted pinesA bridge crosses a murky stream to an oak hammock. At 2.4 miles, scramble atop a levee to reach a log bridge over a creek. Guy wires help you keep your footing.
Bowls of saw palmetto sit below as the trail clings to the high ground. Cypresses become evident in the floodplain forest, an indication the river is near.
If it’s rained recently, expect water to collect in the footpath. Palm fronds dip into the trail, making for a jungle-like feel.
Palmetto log bridgeThe path broadens to what feels like a tramway, one of many used long ago by loggers to remove the old-growth cypresses and pines.
At a T intersection with a sandy path, blazes lead left. Bear right for a short but worthwhile detour.
Broad tramwayA spur tramway burrows deep beneath the canopy of palms to emerge in a tenth of a mile at the St. Francis Dead River.
Fossil snail shells spill off the bank. This may have been a midden, or a midden was torn apart and used for fill for the tramway.
St. Francis Dead RiverThree miles into the hike, it’s a pretty overlook, and the first high, dry spot along this hike.
Return to the trail junction and turn right. Take the next quick right turn to continue along the the edge of the floodplain in an oak hammock.
It’s here that most backpackers find decent places to pitch a tent. A continually-flowing artesian well provides a water source as it pours out of a pipe into an overflowing barrel.
Perpetually flowing artesian wellAt 3.7 miles, reach the St. Francis Road at a T intersection. This was once Main Street for the town, a wagon road connecting it with Paisley.
While hard to envision now, it had a post office, general store, and residences along both sides.
River channel markerTake a right to ramble down it to the river, where pilings from the wharf are still offshore.
Return back up the road, the boundary for Alexander Springs Wilderness to the right.
The old St. Francis to Paisley RoadPassing the incoming trail that brought you here, watch on the left for the next marked turnoff.
Within a third of a mile, the trail veers left, off the road and into a forest of cabbage palms and large live oaks.
Turnoff for return tripAs elevation increases, emerge into the pine flatwoods. It’s a mixed forest of slash and pond pine rising above a saw palmetto understory.
The pond pines are the skinny ones with needles poking out of their trunks, while the slash pines are much taller and fluffier.
Pine flatwoodsDespite dense thickets of saw palmetto, the footpath is smooth and strewn with pine duff and occasionally rises onto bog bridges.
Thanks to trail maintainers who dug out those palmetto roots, you can put on some speed through this section.
Bog bridge in a thicketDipping in and out of shady spots, there are places you can see for some distance across the pine flatwoods.
Cross several Jeep trails along the way before edging a bayhead swamp where water may trickle into the footpath.
Bayhead adjoining pond pine flatwoodsReach another old tramway at 5.8 miles. The trail follows the straightaway, only occasionally veering off it to avoid spots where water pools deeply.
The habitat is a mix of pine flatwoods and bayhead swamps, hence the constant supply of water.
Straightaway on former tramwayWorking its way through the forest across more Jeep trails, return to Confusion Corners.
At this clearing under the oaks is a sign for the Yellow Loop on the right. Take this as your return route.
Yellow Loop junction at benchA long boardwalk leads over a grassy area thick with ferns. Cross two short bridges before descending to a steeply eroded creek.
A sharp left leads the trail alongside the creek under a stand of southern magnolia. Several more bridges follow.
Crossing the creekDeep in this oak hammock lies a natural basin surrounding Rattlesnake Well, which the trail skims past .
This sulfuric spring is a swirling hole of turquoise-blue with yellow streamers, mesmerizing and smelly.
Rattlesnake WellContinue a short distance to reach the main trail again at a T intersection, 6.7 miles into the hike. This seals the overall loop.
Turn right, following the well-beaten path and boardwalks it took to get to this point to reach the trailhead to complete a 7.9 mile hike.
Exiting through the palm hammockTrail Map
Explore More
Slideshow
See our slides of the St. Francis Trail
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