There is a $4 parking fee for the park and limited parking spaces available, so if you are able to carpool, it will both save you money and parking won't be overflowing.
We will be meeting at the posted coordinates at 8:30 AM on Sunday, November 15th. The event will last until 9:00 AM and anyone wishing to hike the trails at that time is welcome to do so. There are several trails in the park from the Millhopper Road entrance to the park with many miles of hiking available. There will be trail maps available at the trail heads as well.
There are restrooms available at the park, but no water, so please bring a bottle of water and a hiking stick if you choose as well as any food you would like to have for the hike. I will likely have either a water cooler to refill bottles from or have bottles of water available. As with all nature areas in Florida, you will need to pay attention to your surroundings for snakes, spiders, ticks, etc. Bug spray is also recommended.
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park is a 7,360-acre preserve that has one of the few remaining mature forests in Florida and has one of the finest examples of the climax mesic hammocks remaining in Florida. The limestone outcrops and extreme changes in elevation provide conditions for many species of hardwood trees. Sinkholes, steephead springs, ponds, and small lakes dot the landscape. Blues Creek, Turkey Creek and Cellon Creek all enter San Felasco from outside the park boundary and flow through the park, finally dropping into swallows, which drain back into the aquifer.
Historically, the preserve has been used by Native Americans for thousands of years. Artifacts found here indicate that aboriginals inhabited the area since at least 8,000 B.C. Change came to the American Indian culture with the introduction of the Spanish mission system controlled by the Franciscans and Jesuits. Within San Felasco is believed to be the mission site of late 17th- century San Francisco de Potano. Potano was the name of the Indian culture living in the area at the time of the Spanish settlement of Florida. Later the area was the scene of a brief skirmish between the Seminoles and the Florida militia during the Second Seminole War. (1835 – 1842) Col. John Warren and his men along with the aid of a cannon fought off a party of Seminoles in an hour-and-a-half-long battle.