Ocala National Forest

Coordinates: 29°10′25″N 81°49′18″W / 29.17361°N 81.82167°W / 29.17361; -81.82167
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ocala National Forest
U.S. Forest Service
WebsiteOcala National Forest
Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest

The Ocala National Forest is the second largest nationally protected forest in the

ranger district offices located in Silver Springs and Umatilla
.

Geography

The Ocala National Forest lies between the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers in North Florida. In descending order of land area, it is located in parts of Marion, Lake, and Putnam counties.

The Ocala Forest is also known for having over 600 natural

springs, and hundreds of lakes and ponds. Near the Juniper Prairie Wilderness and Juniper Springs is "The Yearling Trail", the location where The Yearling
was filmed.

The Ocala National Forest receives more visitors than any other national forest in the Sunshine State. Millions visit the forest annually, which is one of North Florida's last-remaining traces of forested land. The forest’s porous sands, and largely undeveloped lands, provide an important recharge for the

Floridan Aquifer. The Rodman Reservoir system forms most of the northern and northwestern border as part of the Ocklawaha River
Basin.

The

U.S. Forest Service
.

The

State Road 19
.

Ecology

The Ocala National Forest is in the

southern coastal plain oak domes and hammocks
can grow. These are small stands of thick evergreen oaks.

The forest contains several slow-moving rivers and numerous wet "prairies". Blackwater rivers support southern coastal plain blackwater river floodplain forests of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) along their banks. The forest's spring-fed rivers support southern coastal plain hydric hammocks, hammocks of evergreen and hardwood trees, near their floodplains. The prairies are Floridian highlands freshwater marshes. Southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamps are large, seasonally flooded depressions of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) and swamp tupelo (Nyssa biflora).[2]

Big Scrub

The Big Scrub (earlier called the Etonia scrub) is a large area of Florida scrub, about 40 miles (64 km) long and 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) wide, including about 200,000 acres (312 sq mi; 809 km2) of scrub habitat, out of the 366,037 acres (572 sq mi; 1,481 km2) in the national forest.[3][4] It has been described as a sea of scrub with islands of high pine (Florida longleaf pine sandhill), while elsewhere in Florida patches of scrub have been described as islands occurring in a sea of high pine.[5] The shrub layer of the Big Scrub generally consists of several evergreen oaks and other woody shrubs, some of which are not commonly found elsewhere in Florida scrub patches.[a][4]

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lived much of her adult life just a few miles north of the Big Scrub in Cross Creek, Florida. She reported that the only inhabitants of the area lived in hammocks along streams or next to lakes, but not in the scrub itself. Rawlings based some of her writings (including South Moon Under and The Yearling) on the lives of the settlers around the Big Scrub after staying with families there.[6] She described the Big Scrub in detail, stating that it was unique in the world. She wrote, "There is no human habitation—there never has been and probably never will be—in the scrub itself." She called the scrub "a vast wall, keeping out the timid and the alien."[7] Patrick D. Smith, in writing about Rawlings, stated about the Big Scrub, "In all of America there is not a more wild and hostile land."[8]

Periodic fires are necessary for the long term maintenance of Florida scrub. Fires in scrub are intense, killing sand pine trees and burning shrubs to the ground.[9] A fire started by a lightning strike in the Big Scrub in 1935 became the fastest spreading wildfire in the history of the United States Forest Service. The fire consumed 35,000 acres (55 sq mi; 140 km2) in four hours, spreading at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h). The Forest Service now conducts periodic burns in the Big Scrub after sand pines have been harvested from an area.[10]

Animals

Ocala has a wide variety of wildlife. The

squirrel treefrogs, and southern five-lined skinks, southern leopard frogs and southern toads. An introduced population of Asian Rhesus macaques, originally a tourist attraction at Silver Springs State Park, have also ranged into the region and are occasionally seen.[11]

Activities

The Ocala National Forest has an accommodating climate for year-round recreation. The mild winters are fine for family camping while a summer canoe trip down a palm-lined stream is a cool way to spend an August day. The temperatures for the dry months of November through February range from a daily average of 50 °F (10 °C) to a high of 72 °F (22 °C). The summer season is much warmer and wetter. Short afternoon thundershowers often raise the humidity to about 90% while the temperatures range from 80 °F (27 °C) to 95 °F (35 °C). The average rainfall is approximately 55 inches (1,400 mm) per year.

Water plays an important part in a variety of recreational opportunities in the forest. Activities range from canoeing, boating, fishing, skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, and the use of personal watercraft. Several boat ramps are available in the forest.

Many

hiking trails run through the forest including the Florida Trail, Salt Springs Observation Trail, Lake Eaton Sinkhole
Trail, St. Francis Trail, and Yearling Trail.

Hidden Pond in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness portion of the Ocala National Forest.
Yearling Trail sign within the forest.

Bicyclists can travel along a challenging 22-mile (35 km) long ride on the Paisley Woods Bicycle Trail. Because this trail is not paved, bicycles need to be suited for rough terrain.

Mountain bikes are ideal and encouraged for this environment.[12]

The Ocala National Forest offers many locations to ride Off-Road Vehicles. Currently, two trail systems offer a variety of recreation experiences: (1) the Ocala North OHV Trail System offers a longer experience with six distinct trail loops totaling 125 miles (201 km) and (2) the Wandering Wiregrass OHV Trail in the Southeast portion of the forest offers shorter day-use riding with a trail length of 17 miles (27 km). A new trail system was added in 2008 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the forest. It is part of the south trail system off FR 573.. A small trail 20 miles (32 km) long called the Scrubjay and a longer trail 42 miles (68 km) long called the Centennial may be accessed from trailheads off FR 573. SR 40, and the Big Scrub Campground. Some areas are restricted to off-road vehicles; a detailed forest map can help provide information on areas open to off-road vehicles.

There are many trails for horseback riding in the forest. Forest riding trails are old roads 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) wide, marked at intervals with painted spots – called blazes – on the trees. Some of the best trails include the One Hundred Mile trail and the LAM trail.

The Ocala National Forest is a wildlife management area, in which hunting and fishing activities are managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A permit is required for all hunters (except those indicated as exempt) to hunt in this area. A Quota Hunt Permit may also be required during certain periods or certain game.

A public shooting range is located at the center of the National Forest Forest Road 11, north of S.R. 40 in the Ocala National Forest. GPS Coordinates: 29°11’16.80” N 81°46’14.15” W 12-position 100-yard rifle/handgun shooting range One single-station, self-throw shotgun pad Cost: Free Open daily from sunrise to sunset, except on Wednesday when closed until noon for maintenance. Closed sunset to sunrise, and Wednesday mornings until noon. This unsupervised facility in the Ocala National Forest offers a rifle and handgun range, and a single-station, self-throw shotgun pad. It was built with the cooperation of the U.S. Forest Service with funding provided by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR).[13]

Lakes

The north shore of Wildcat Lake along SR 40 in Lake County. A boat ramp exists east of the picnic area shown here.

The following is a list of lakes in or on the border of the forest:

Campsites

Juniper Springs Recreation Area
off of SR 40

Wilderness areas

There are four officially designated

wilderness areas lying within Ocala National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System
.

The entrance to the Florida Trail in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness.

See also

Notes

  1. Florida rosemary, garberia, and American olive.[4]

References

  1. ISBN 0-8223-1272-7
    .
  2. ^ "Land Cover Viewer - Map". National Gap Analysis Program. United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  3. ^ Webber 1935, p. 344.
  4. ^ a b c Mohlenbrock 1976, p. 309.
  5. ^ Myers 1990, p. 152.
  6. ^ Turcotte 2012, pp. 492–497.
  7. ^ Turcotte 2012, p. 491.
  8. ^ Turcotte 2012, p. 492.
  9. ^ Myers 1990, pp. 167–168.
  10. ^ Custer, George; Thorsen, James (1996). "Stand-Replacement Burn in the Ocala National Forest—a Success" (PDF). Fire Management Notes. 56 (2): 7–12.
  11. ^ "The Silver Springs monkeys - International Primate Protection League". International Primate Protection League. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Paisley Woods Off-Road Bicycle Trail". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  13. ^ "Ocala Shooting Range". Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ Wildcat Lake Recreation Area (Wilder.net)

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ocala National Forest.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ocala National Forest.
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