Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park

Where wet pine flatwoods slope towards Blackwater Bay, a sweeping panorama of wet prairies is host to the largest concentration of pitcher plants in all of Florida, at Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park.

Resources

Overview

Location: Milton
Lat-Lon: 30.484300, -87.071500
Fees: Free
Open: 8 AM to sunset daily

It can be quite buggy here, given the high concentration of carnivorous plants. The ground is often soggy and boggy, as befitting a huge, productive bog.

Location

Exit I-10 at Bagdad and head south on Garcon Point Rd (CR 191) approximately 6 miles. Turn left onto Dickerson City Rd and immediately left into the small parking area.

Details

There are no marked trails, so use a GPS or keep within sight of your car as you wander into the open prairies in search of pitcher plants, which line the ditches along Dickerson City Road. You won’t have to walk far to see blooms. There are some forest roads to amble along on the north side of the parking area, leading to a pond with pitcher plants on its rim. Visit this park in April for the most stunning array of pitcher plant blooms on the Gulf Coast.

Explore the park

We rambled along the fence line along the south side of Dickerson City Rd, where a profusion of white-topped pitcher plants were already in bloom in late March. We also followed a trail a little ways into the bog on the south side before it got quite wet.

Park Website