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.
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Resources for exploring the area
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Overview
Location: Milton
Trailhead: 30.484300, -87.071500
Fees: Free
Open: 8 AM to sunset daily
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 850-983-5363
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.
Visit this park in April for the most stunning array of pitcher plant blooms on the Gulf Coast.
Directions
Exit Interstate 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.
About the Park
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.
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.
These are a few of the less showy but still significant species you’ll find in this park.
See all images from our exploration of Yellow River Marsh Preserve
Explore More
Nearby Pitcher Plant Bogs
These pitcher plant bogs also put on quite a show each April.
Clear Creek Nature Trail
The Clear Creek Nature Trail leads you to a wonderland of bright blossoms and lacy white-veined trumpets reflected against reflections of the sky.
Garcon Point Trail
On a peninsula separating Blackwater Bay and East Bay, Garcon Point Preserve presents an open landscape of wind-swept prairies punctuated by oak hammocks and tall longleaf pines