This weekend’s hiking crew consisted of David, myself, and my eldest son Killian who is eight. This was planned as Killian’s first hike with a real pack and was intended to simulate the Appalachian Trail in preparation for an April 2000 section hike. This was also to be David’s first hike in Florida.
Rock Creek Trail is located on the eastern side of Torreya State Park in the Florida Panhandle about 14 miles north of Bristol. The park is situated on a bend of the Apalachicola River and encompasses some of the most varied ecosystems, and arguably the steepest terrain in Florida. The trail system consists of the Torreya Trail, a 7.5-mile loop trail that circles the western half of the park and the newer Rock Creek Trail, a 7-mile loop which circles the eastern half of the park. There are also numerous side trails and access trails as well as a connecting trail that joins the two loops at an old stone bridge over Rock Creek.
After the required check-in with the Ranger at the Gregory House we drove up to the Picnic Area to park and begin our hike. A service road leads from the south end of the parking lot down to the stone bridge. The beginning of the trail is just up the hill past the stone bridge. There is a rather large sign at the beginning of the trail cautioning hikers to carry, bug spray, sunscreen, high energy snacks, and at least two quarts of water on the trail, as well as allowing at least 5 hours to complete the loop.
After leaving the service road we began to climb almost immediately followed by a steep descent and another climb. Hmmm, this seems familiar! Although the climbs are not of the same duration as climbs on trails such as the Appalachian Trail, they were often just as steep. Lacking a good topo map of the area I would say that there were several 100-foot climbs and a host of smaller ones. Following a string of orange blazes, this trail winds through predominantly hardwood forests and the occasional pine flatwood. Although there was an abundance of wildlife even in late November, there was no sign of the Torreya, the tree for which the park is named. The trees were in fall color and we saw hawks and owls and the usual collection of robins, cardinals, finches, etc. as well as squirrels and deer. There were towering hickory, oak and beech trees, some well over a hundred feet tall.
I probably shouldn’t forget to mention the banana spiders. At least, I think that is what they are. Be careful as you are walking, they like to spin their webs right across the path! Killian was usually leading and was able to walk right under the first one we came to. I didn’t see it until it was about 2 inches from my nose. A five-inch wide spider two inches from your nose looks much bigger than it really is! Did I mention that my attitude in dealing with spiders is best summed up by the phrase “terminate with extreme prejudice”? Luckily for the spider I was in good spirits, no doubt due to the fact that it was a beautiful day and I was out hiking.
There are many stream crossings, but this trail has no footbridges. Logs and wading are the order of the day. Fortunately, there were usually handy logs or the stream was very shallow with a hard sandy bottom. To our surprise one was even scored deeply into solid limestone with many small falls and cataracts. Although the sign warned to bring water, if you are comfortable with filtering or treating your water, there is an abundance available on the trail.
About three quarters of the way around the trail (counter-clockwise) there is a brand new primitive campsite called the Torreya Challenge Campsite. It is located on a short spur trail a few minutes off of the trail. (All of the primitive campsites in Torreya are located on short spurs off of the main loop.) We came back to the stone bridge after five hours of hiking (amazing how well they timed that, isn’t it?) and sat down for a short break before the final push to our campsite on Rock Creek about a mile or so around the Torreya Trail to the north. There right beside the bridge we finally saw not one but three Torreya trees, we had walked right past them on our way to the trail head and hadn’t even seen them!
The Torreya trail is more heavily used than the Rock Creek Trail and has footbridges over the stream crossings. There were many more Torreya trees on this trail and as we descended toward the creek bottom it became more and more subtropical in character. We turned off of the Torreya Trail on to the spur for Rock Creek Campsite and found the firewood provided for us neatly stacked under plastic to one side of the trail. (No, it’s not free, but you aren’t allowed to pick up fallen wood and debris in this park, so pay up when you register.) Rock Creek Campsite has several well spread out tent sites, most of which are sized for only one tent. There is an outhouse and the creek is close by.
The following morning we decided to continue on around the loop a short ways to see the Confederate Gun Emplacements before heading back to the parking lot. Only a mile further around the trail we came to the first gun pit. As we were looking at it Killian saw a bald eagle fly overhead. There are several nesting pairs of bald eagles located in this part of the park and during nesting season the service roads through the nest area are closed. We climbed on up the bluff past the other five gun pits and emerged at the top behind the Gregory House where we had begun the day before only a few minutes walk from the parking lot at the picnic area.
The weather was clear and cool during the day and clear and cold at night. We did not see another soul on the trail until we got to the gun pits on the Torreya Trail the second morning. This has to be on of the most enjoyable hikes in Florida. We will be going back again to complete the rest of the Torreya Trail and try out the other campgrounds soon.
Lee I
Joe
28
November 1999
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, shouting "GERONIMO".