Swift Creek to Lake Butler Olustee to Ocean Pond

As chapter chair of the Florida Crackers, I need to do my best to make sure the trails that my chapter is responsible for are maintained. Even though the crackers are made up of folks from Alachua, Gilchrest, Levy and Marion Counties, members of the group also maintain stretches outside these counties. One such stretch is from Lake Butler to Olustee, known as the Olustee section. This 18 miles of trails run through land owned by the Plum Creek Timber Co. Nelly, the Kiz and I headed out early one Sunday morning to check it out. We set up a shuttle and parked on 231 near Lake Butler.

We put in at Swift Creek hiking the north side of the trail to the campsite. Nice Soft campsite under an oak with a view of Swift Creek. We crossed the creek at the campsite and hiked south towards Lake Butler.

The trail goes through a quarter mile of clear cut, where you climb up and down ruts where future pine trees will be planted. The contractors for the timber company have left blazes on lone trees through the clear cut. It then follows some forest roads through the butler forest. It was a lovely day for a Sunday Turkey trot, as we spotted 10 plus turkeys gobbling down the road. The trail comes to some flagging. We pass through the flagging and continue to follow the blazes. The trail goes from forest road into some hardwood, and then into a short stretch of hydric hammock emerging into another section of clear cut. Watch out for the blackberry bushes. The approaching fences indicate we are close to Lake Butler. The trail turns right and back to the car. We decide to have lunch at the Olustee Battlefield. The self guided museum tour comes complete with interesting displays, documentary style video, and a monument honoring the thousands of soldiers that died in the battle. The confederates won the battle, but soon lost the war.

We decide to hike from the Battlefield to Ocean Pond. Red Cockaded woodpeckers thrive in the Pines. We enter the Oceola National Forest and make our way. "This is what pine forests are supposed to look like" the Kiz barks. Water levels are low as Nelly doesn't use a single bridge. We hike more then the mile and a half I had estimated (I didnt print out a map) and reach Cobb hunt camp. I turn around remembering that we had left our cars parked inside the gate at Olustee. I haul ass back and drive to the lake. It is georgeous and we all three soak our tired feet in the water. We make it back to the Battlefield at 10 after 5. The Ranger was pissed. What can I say it was daylights savings day.