Weekiwachee Preserve

Named for the river which defines its northern boundary, the 11,000-acre Weekiwachee Preserve protects a mosasic of habitats.

Along with adjoining public lands, these form the largest remaining Florida black bear habitat along the peninsular Gulf Coast.

The preserve is centered around a mine reclamation area, where limestone was once quarried from deep pits.

Now filled with water, these pits form a chain of lakes within a rocky, alkaline landscape surrounded by native habitats.

Main entrance in Spring Hill

Resources

Central Florida Orlando Explorers Guide book cover

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

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Overview

Location: Hernando Beach
Length: 5.9 miles
Trailhead: 28.495747,-82.648786
Address: 2345 Osowaw Blvd, Spring Hill FL 34607
Fees: Free
Restroom: Portalet. No water.
Land manager: Southwest Florida Water Management District
Phone: 352-796-7211 ext 4470

Open daily sunrise to sunset. No pets permitted. Bicycles are welcome.

Use sun protection, as the loop around the former pits has no shade. There is no access by trail to the Weeki Wachee River within this preserve.

Paddling and bank fishing permitted but take care to use designated areas as some banks are eroded and the pits are deep.

No swimming allowed. Please do not disturb roosting or nesting birds. Hunting is permitted here on specified dates.

Directions

There are two public access points to the preserve. The main entrance is at the south end of the preserve in Spring Hill at the address above. A secondary walk-in entrance with limited parking is on Shoal Line Rd.

From the intersection US 19 and CR 595 in Spring Hill, turn west. The main entrance to the preserve, 2345 Osowaw Boulevard, is a right-hand turn within the first half-mile.

For the northern entrance, which we use to describe this hike, continue to the intersection with CR 597 (Shoal Line Road). Turn right. Drive 3 miles north to Hernando Beach. Watch for Petit Ln on the left. The park entrance is on the right.

Hike

While the preserve contains a 5.5 mile interpretive loop trail around the lakes, we managed to walk more than 14 miles by adding on a spur hike following unmarked forest roads.

Interpretive Loop

Starting from the Shoal Line Rd gate, an open jeep track leads away from the gate. Diamond-shaped hiker signs indicate the trail as the sharp tang of the surrounding salt marsh reminds you how close you are to the Gulf of Mexico.

Shrubby junipers rise on the right. After passing a grassy track to the right, the elevation rises slightly, leaving the marshes behind. A slough parallels the trail on the right, with a dense cabbage palm hammock behind it.

After 0.4 mile, the first big bright blue lake is to the right. Turn right and follow the track towards the kiosk, where you might find a copy of the interpretive trail guide.

The 5.5-mile loop trail around the lakes is blazed with black bear markings on fence posts. This route makes a counter-clockwise loop around the lakes.

Because the lake is within a limestone pit, the refractive quality of suspended limestone particles in the water creates a stunning blue color under blue skies.

Under gray skies, the lakes look greenish

Passing by the opposite side of the cabbage palm hammock, the trail continues along the edge of the lake, veering left to keep to the lakeshore.

The first of many vegetation-covered rock mounds parallels the trail on the right. You see the backs of commercial buildings on Shoal Line Road.

After a mile, the first lake ends and the second lake begins. A side trail leads out on the causeway between the two.
It’s your first opportunity to see the lake up close, where the clear blue water laps up against white limestone.

The shape of the quarry pit provides the opportunity for shallow mud flats to take form along the edge of the lake.

Muhly grass and saw palmetto

A canal on the right side separates the park from commercial establishments along Shoal Road. After 1.3 miles, the second lake ends. A bear blaze indicates the trail continues straight, paralleling the canal.

The trail turns sharply left, passing next to a thirty-foot-tall waste rock pile covered with lantana. An outcrop of dark black limestone provides a ledge from which to peer into the lake.

The trail swings to the left, through a broad meadow separating two lakes. Another large tree-covered rock mound sits off to the right. Coming up and over a slight rise, the trail curves through a dry prairie.

A jeep trail joins in. The sand underfoot becomes blindingly white, and the trail approaches the south side of the first lake while still edging the lake.

You can see the main parking area and restroom on the far shore of the lake. There are numerous spots where you can stop and look into the crystalline waters.

A canal choked with cattails joins the two lakes. After 2 miles, the trail reaches a shaded picnic bench. Stop and enjoy the shade while taking in the view.

Veering off to the right around a mound of limestone, the trail continues on to the limerock boulder area.

Limestone boulders

At 2.1 miles, the Shortcut Trail takes off to the left on a causeway between two lakes. Use it to shorten this hike to 5 miles. It stays closer to the lake as the Main Trail leaves it.

The main trail veers right, hugging the lake, soon passing the “Least Terns” sign on the left.

By 2.5 miles, keep alert for where the trail veers to the left towards the canopied bench, away from the jeep track it has been following around the lake.

Another map of the loop trail is displayed under the canopy, helping you to get your bearings. You are approaching the southernmost end of the lakes.

A grassy track joins the trail from the right. As the trail becomes grassy, it heads towards the distant tree line.

When the trail reaches the trees, it turns sharply left along the forested wetlands, a floodplain forest of red maple, sweet gum, and slash pine.

Where a track comes in from the right, the trail veers off to the left. When you reach a fork in the trail, a double-blaze at 3.2 miles indicates the trail turns right, following the tree line.

A broad meadow stretches off to the left, creating a taupe fog underneath scattered slash pines. The forest on the right is a mix of pines and oaks and sweetgum.

The meadow with muhly grass

The trail curves slightly left as it enters a sand pine scrub forest, with scrub live oaks and saw palmettos.

Turkey oaks and water oaks supply a small stretch of shade. Pass the sign for a coyote den, and a gopher tortoise burrow behind the sign.

After 3.5 miles, the bear blazes end at a paved road. This is the main road into the preserve. Turn left and follow the road along a disturbed sand pine forest with borrow pits

As you approach the lake, the Shortcut Trail joins in from the left, at 4.3 miles. Once again, you can see the island of boulders in the lake.

Diamond markers indicate another hiking trail follows a soft sand jeep track off to the right into the scrub.

Skip that trek and continue to the parking lot, swing right past the portable toilet, and through the gate.

Where the trail comes to a T at a lake, turn left. More large cliff-like exposures of waste rock rise tall to the left as the trail threads its way between two lakes.

At the five-mile mark, the trail forks again. Veer left. Where the trail curves around the lake, there is a beautiful spot to stop and contemplate the shimmering water.

Blue waters under blue skies

This is your decision point for the remainder of your hike. If you stick to the loop trail, you’ll be back to the beginning of the loop in 0.3 mile, and back to your car within 0.7 mile.

But if you want to explore shady pine flatwoods and floodplain forests, add more mileage by following the spur trail.
The home stretch of the loop trail crosses over a spillway before reaching a fork where the trail continues its loop to the left.

To return to the parking lot, keep to the right. You’ll soon pass the spot where you started the loop. Head straight on down the jeep track to the Shoal Line Rd gate.

Ladder brake fern, a limestone-loving fern

Spur Trail

Total distance on this spur hike is 8.3 miles (round-trip), but you can go out as far as you please and turn around at any point.

You can also access the spur trail more directly by following the path around the lake clockwise for 0.7 mile to reach this trail junction.

The spur trail starts off the fork to the right, passing through a fence. Diamond-shaped markers with a hiker blaze this trail.

As you skirt around the edge of the lake, take a close look at the small caves eroded along the shoreline, formed as the water level in the quarry dropped.

Caves or dens? Exposed by the drop of water levels.

Tall limestone mounds on the left support holly, cabbage palms, and small shrubs. The trail veers right, following the edge of the lake.

After the trail turns left, you come to an intersection of jeep roads, 0.5 mile along the spur trail. The trail takes a sharp turn left into the pine flatwoods.

Slash pines rise over a tangled understory of dense saw palmetto on the left, draped with greenbrier and grapevines.

The floodplain forest on the right is a mix of red maple, sweetgum, and dahoon holly.

As the trail follows an old forest road, the footpath becomes a rough limestone washboard for a brief period, leading up to a dense hydric hammock where water flows under the road.

The trail continues through alternating stretches of pine flatwoods, floodplain forest, and hydric hammock.

Beneath the pines, dense patches of ferns fill the gaps between the saw palmettos. In the floodplain forest, arrowroot protrudes from a small marshy pond on the left.

Bay magnolia and loblolly bay crowd the small hydric hammocks. A slough parallels the trail to the left, its surface choked with duckweed.

At 1.9 miles, you’ll reach a fork in the road. Turn right. As the trail gains a slight bit of elevation, the surrounding habitat becomes a sand pine scrub.

The footpath becomes soft sugar sand in places, slowing down your hiking pace. But the bright white sand captures footprints perfectly.

Bear tracks

At 2.2 miles, the trail comes to a T intersection. Turn right. The sand underfoot turns to grass as the forest becomes denser. Slash pines drop their needles on the trail.

As the trail turns west, it enters a hydric hammock. The road underfoot becomes hard limerock.

After briefly emerging into a sand pine forest, the trail returns to hydric hammock. Cypress knees rise from the forest floor.

Pass an old gate on the left, attached to a cypress tree. Use this landmark as a turn-around point unless you are interested in botanizing in the sandhill and scrub habitats ahead.

Tiny square blossoms of sand pine whitlow-wort

After leaving the hydric hammock, the trail rises into open sandhills and edges along the eastern boundary of the park.

Houses appear off to the left. The road becomes extremely soft sand underfoot, making progress difficult.
Raccoon and deer tracks crisscross the trail. The forest is sparse and open, mostly turkey oak, sand pine, and live oaks.

Look down to marvel at the small details, such as yellow buttons and sandhill wireweed.

At 4.1 miles, the trail ends without warning in the cleared area; neither fork leads to trail markers.

Turn around and retrace your steps back to the loop trail, taking care to follow each turn of the trail markers back to your starting point.