It had been a few years since we had been to Blackwater River State Park. What attracted me to the Chain of Lakes Trail was its passage through a Longleaf Pine wood and the promise of wetlands. I had kayaked there several times years ago and what struck me then was the unspoiled wilderness.
The hike is a loop trail. We chose to take it counter clockwise from the parking area, and the entrance into the sandhill forest was striking. It is one of my favorite ecosystems – tall, nearly branchless Longleaf Pines spaced across the terrain, gently swaying in the breeze, allowing filtered sun to light up the forest floor. The spacing of the trees is an evolutionary trait that prevents a spreading inferno should fire climb to the crown of a tree.
Amongst the impressive pines were some scrubby deciduous trees struggling to compete in this environment, including Water Oak, Turkey Oak, and Swamp White Oak. Fire is an important management technique in the health of Longleaf Pine forests and prescribed burns are frequently used. We saw evidence of a relatively recent burn as char was noted at the base of the trees including this young Longleaf Pine. The small pines survive the fire through thick bark and a terminal bud that is thick and scaly, protecting it from heat. After the fire, new growth emerges from the tip of the plant.
If not for fire, the deciduous trees would out compete the pines, palmetto would overrun the understory, and the pinewoods habitat would be lost. Tree ring studies on old growth specimens suggest that prior to the fire suppression practices of the last hundred years, the Longleaf Pine forests experienced fire every three to four years on average, and forest managers now try to replicate that schedule with prescribed burns. Fire clears the forest floor of debris and competition, allowing for the seeds of the pines to come in contact with exposed soil, increasing the germination rate to ensure another generation of trees.
Currently, Longleaf Pine forests in the south total just 10% of their historical acreage, but management plans, including prescribed burns and aggressive replanting programs, are starting to reverse that loss.
The sandhill forest that we were in was very healthy with trees and open understory rolling across the gentle terrain. We constantly searched the canopy for the endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker who inhabits the forest but unfortunately did not see any.
A large part of the understory were ferns of several different species:
Bracken Fern – widely spread across the eastern U.S. and other parts of the northern hemisphere.
Cinnamon Fern – my fern guide book says that they can be from two to five feet tall, and here they were approaching five feet in the moist depression seen in the second photo below.
While most ferns have spores on the underside of their leaf structures, Cinnamon Ferns send up a rust colored fertile spore stalk that gives them their name.
Netted Chain Fern – similar in appearance to the Sensitive Fern that we see in the Ohio River Valley but with less marked teething of the pinnae margins.
Royal Fern – found in wetlands throughout the eastern U.S.
The photographer’s favorite photo of the ferns was this one, obtained when we turned over a leaf looking for spores. The markings of the vascular system are interesting.
We also saw clumps of wire grass that are an integral part of the sandhill ecosystem. It feels just as the name implies – thin and rigid like a wire. Regular forest floor fires help to stimulate flowering and seed production so it too has benefited from the increasingly common practice of prescribed burning.
Halfway through the loop, the habitat changed. The trail meandered down a slight grade and delivered us to the edge of a small bayou of the Blackwater River. It was amazing to see how a few foot change in altitude, which brought the water table closer to the surface, drastically changed the plant community. The tree species were now those associated with wetlands: Red Maple, Atlantic White-cedar, Bald Cypress, and Sweetbay Magnolia. The first sign of this was when we saw this Atlantic White-cedar ahead on the trail.
They are evergreen but not a pine tree. Also, the common name is actually a misnomer, as it is not a cedar. It’s scientific name is Chamaecyparis thyoides and it has the typical scale-like leaves of trees in the chamaecyparis family, that branch on one plane.
They were invaluable to settlers along the mid-Atlantic and Gulf coasts as the wood was excellent for shake shingles and flooring.
Just behind these Atlantic White-cedars we saw small pockets of water, seemingly seeping up from the ground.
After a small descent we found ourselves walking along a swamp that contained the backwaters of the Blackwater River. The waters are tea-colored due to the tannins released by decaying plant life and peaty soil, as the water finds its way to the stream.
In this area the trail becomes more challenging due to a tremendous number of surface tree roots that crossed the trail. Trees of wetlands, such as Red Maple and Bald Cypress, keep their roots superficial and out of the water table to give them a better supply of oxygen.
As we are heading west on the loop, and back towards parking, the trail took us to the edge of larger sections of the swamp as noted in the title photo and below. Here we could see the typical buttressed bases of the trees in the water.
Eventually the trail brought us to the edge of the beautiful Blackwater River with its white sandy shores. This is the same type of sand that covers the famous white beaches of the Florida Panhandle. Geologically it is the result of the forces of the last ice age, with the southern most glaciers of the lower Appalachians grinding quartz into tiny particles as they retreated, twelve to twenty thousand years ago. The sand here is an “off-white” due to staining by the tannins mentioned earlier.
It is truly a great river to kayak as this man, and his best friend on the bow, will attest to.
The last leg of the loop offered many views onto the river but also trekked through a swamp area requiring some sections of boardwalk.
Along the route we had some interesting sightings. The first of these were a number of species of Damsel Flies. We love Damsels as they feed on mosquitoes. There is a lot of variability in color within species and between the sexes, making identification a challenge. Thankfully there are some really good websites to aid me.
Black Dancer, Ebony Jewelwing, Eastern Forktail
Another animated group that we enjoyed were some of the first butterflies of the spring season.
Common Buckeye – while many butterflies are named for the plants that host their larvae, that is not the case here. They are named for the bold eyespots located on all four wings, not the Buckeye tree.
Southern Pearly Eye – I love the subtle contrast between the butterfly and the layered bark of the Longleaf Pine in the shade. In reality he blended in quite well with the patchy coloration of the bark on the tree, and if you looked away you had to concentrate to find it again.
Botanical items of interest were several. I am not a slow learner and a year ago when I identified and read about Florida’s Stinging Nettle the image was tattooed on my mind. It looks friendly enough at first glance.
But look closely at its leaves and stems. If the bristles puncture your skin they will leave you with a stinging pain for a week.
Early in the hike we came upon some nice specimens of Eastern Bluestar. The leaves contain a milky sap that deters browsing by deer and other mammalian herbivores.
Another interesting plant was Candyroot – named such as its root tastes of licorice. I have only seen it in one other location in our Florida Panhandle hikes.
Another repeat performer was Gopherweed. A member of the pea family, it is host plant for the larvae of six butterfly species.
And as an amateur naturalist I always like to see plants that I have seen previously, but in quite different ecosystems. Such was the case when we came upon Patridge Berry in Holt, Florida in a longleaf pine forest at 97 feet above sea level. Last I recalled seeing it was in Red River Gorge in Slade, Kentucky at 740 feet altitude amongst limestone bluffs. Notice the hairy appendages on the petals.
Earlier in this article we emphasized the role that prescribed burning plays in maintaining the sandhill habitat. The fact is, that on the way into the park we had seen evidence of an active prescribed burn taking place: a column of smoke, hovering helicopters surveying the area, and a team of others on the ground keeping an eye on the fire. As we progressed in the hike the column of smoke grew, and it took all the photographer’s trust in me, or in the Florida Forest Service, to continue to hike toward that column of smoke that was never really out of our sight. Luckily the wind was from the southeast and there was no smell of smoke in our area.
My reassurance was a consistent, “There is a river between us and that fire”.
In summary, the Chain of Lakes Trail does not involve hiking to a string of lakes as the name implies, but rather is a series of encounters with the waters of the Blackwater River, some as swamp with no evidence of flow, and some where the trail takes you to the shore of the beautiful swift moving stream. In addition, it passes through an outstanding Longleaf pine forest. It is the quality of the public greenspaces that brings us back to the Florida Panhandle again and again.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview:
Location – 7720 Deaton Bridge Rd, Holt, FL 32564
Parking – large paved lot for approximately 20 cars
Facilities – restrooms short drive away in a picnic area
Trail Conditions – 1.75 mile loop, packed sand and grass through the forest, bare dirt and boardwalk near the river. The trailheads for the loop are across the road from the parking area.
Benches – several
Picnic Tables – several at the trailhead.
Kids – kids four and over should do well
Dogs – Dogs welcomed on a leash
Links:
https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/blackwater-river-state-park/experiences-amenities