[ft-l] Need Some Boy Scout help - Trail Segment Recommendation??

[theboonies@cfl.rr.com (The Boonie Man)]

Hi Jerry,

Have you considered any of the following:

Tosohatchee State Reserve
Hal Scott Regional Preserve
St. Sebastian River Buffer Preserve
Little Big Econ State Forest

They are all very close to Brevard County and offer plenty of hiking
opportunities. Probably the one that would get the most "oohs" and "ahs"
would be Little Big Econ. It has has a very scenic hike along the
Econlockhatchee River with a number of campsites right on the river. Great
place to cool off after a long day of hiking. To make it a 10+ mile hike,
you'll probably have to hike into nearby Geneva Wilderness which happens to
be a popular Boy Scout park.

If you don't mind hiking along abondoned jeep trails, Hal Scott has over 19
miles of marked hiking trails divided into 4 loops. The campsites (3 of
them) are located along the Econlockhatchee River. Most of the year the
river is very shallow (ankle deep) and you can pratically jump across it.
But right now it has overflowed it's banks,  so you may have to get your
feet wet in order to get to some of the camp sites.  Pretty soon they'll
have some bridges constructed at the crossing points.

St. Sebastian River Buffer is actually in South Brevard County. It has the
most hiking trails (40+ miles) of all these areas . The trails which are
mostly double-track can be sandy at times especially during the dry season.
The terrain is mostly flat open pine lands. Here you could probably do cross
country hiking with a little orienteering. It has five campsites. My
favorite is Mullet Camp which is located on a high bluff overlooking the St.
Sebastian River. There's also a canoe landing and the remains of an old
mansion nearby.

Tosohatchee has plenty of hiking trails too. If you want to hike a section
of the Florida Trail this is the place to go. All the trails are single
track and right now they should be in pretty good shape (no standing water).
This place has 2 primitive campsites including a large youth campsite.

If you're interested, you can get more information on these areas including
contact information and trails maps on my website at
http://theboonies.home.att.net.

Shawn