Camping/Field trip to Torreya State Park & Surrounding Area
Join us for a weekend trip to the Tallahassee area, to see spring ephemerals and rare plants! Bring your tent or RV, or stay in a "Yurt" at Torreya State Park. We will be visiting this park, Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, and other places in the surrounding area and on the drive from Pinellas to Leon County.
Information about Torreya State Park
Hiking Trails at Torreya State Park
Information about Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve
Time: 7:00 am Vehicles who will be driving up will meet at the Perkins Pancake House. Since we cannot leave vehicles there for the full time, carpools will need to be arranged ahead of time. After reservations are in, we will determine who wishes to drive or ride with others.
(More info below)
Hiking: Most of the hiking trails are fairly easy; one trail slightly more strenuous; and one (which we don’t know if we will have time for) is moderately strenuous. If you prefer not to go on that trail you may want to do some of the easier trails at the camp ground.
You may want to bring a hiking stick to help. List of suggested supplies is provided below.
Camping: You will NOT have to reserve your own site, as we have reserved 5 campsites and the YURT which will hold 6 people who are willing to share the space (someone will need to share a queen-size bed); we recommend this for anyone who does not have regular camping equipment.
We may put 2-3 small tents on 1 campsite if we need to. The campsites will also accommodate RV’s or pop-up campers. Each site has 1 electrical outlet and a water spigot, a grille and campfire area for cooking.
The YURT also has electric inside & out, as well as A/C or heater if needed. (No refrigeration- you will need to bring coolers. The campground provides wood for campfires.
Cost for the Campsites is around $18.00/night, so if several of you share one you can split the cost.
Cost for the YURT is around $40.00/night- divided among the number who share that space (For example: if 5 of you share it, that will mean about $8.00 per night each person ).
The maximum number of people we can accommodate on the hikes to keep it fun and safe is ~ 25, so make your reservations early. When you call to reserve, we will send more details, and help those who wish to share campsites (or YURT) to get in touch with each other.
Those who will be riding together will be worked out in advance, and those parties should arrange to pick each other up as I don’t think we could leave our vehicles at Perkins for 4 days.
We will drive up the Suncoast Parkway to Crystal River…… (about 2.5- hours) stop for restrooms, quick a quick Brunch and then head north again towards Perry. At Perry we will again make a quick stop (restrooms & fast food, so you may want to bring your own sandwiches or snacks if you prefer). From there we will head west along the coastline road on 98, over to the Apalachicola Forest area.
Through this area we will make several short stops…. One at a preserve called Tate’s Hell,(awful name, beautiful place) which includes a dwarf cypress swamp, and some other interesting areas of coastal scrub. From there we will be going mostly north up towards Torreya; There are interesting stops all through this forest area, so we will make a few stops as time allows; but we want to be at Torreya with plenty of light to set up camp.
Saturday will be a morning hike and an afternoon hike, or you may choose to just go on one or the other.
Sunday morning we will meet with Dr. Gil Nelson (author of numerous native plant books) and he will take us to several different areas that are not normally accessible to everyone.
Monday morning we will do a short hike at Torreya, before we break camp to head back home.
Suggested gear for hiking: Comfortable shoes! (lots of walking); Water for drinking; Hat; Light jacket (mornings in north Florida are quite cool) Nutritious snacks; Bug spray; Sunscreen; hat; binoculars; Cameras (optional); Hiking stick if you wish.
As we receive reservations and have a better idea of how many we will be, we will send further details, and recommended camping gear and supplies.
For questions please contact Alexa Wilcox-Huegel -
Or 727-422-4792
