Cathedral of Palms Loop

Dogs Unknown

A great loop with a mix of singletrack, doubletrack, and boardwalk with the highlight of running through a cathedral-like forest of sable palms.

The boggy sections and boardwalks could be tricky but the doubletrack sections are dry and make for an easy trail run.

This trail follows part of the Florida Trail through the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge (Florida Trail: St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge Section) and starts at a very easy to see deer hunting station right off Spring Creek Highway which has a parking area for a few cars.The loop starts as dry forest road doubletrack and is marked with single orange blazes of the Florida Trail.

The first right turn onto singletrack and all subsequent change in direction where the trail crosses other forest roads are very clearly marked with double orange blazes. The section through the forest of Florida's state tree is at the far east end of the loop and is muddy in sections but very beautiful and cathedral-like!

Pick a dry time of year to run this (wintertime) since some sections have boardwalks but others will be sloppy even in the drier season of December.

Oaks, magnolias, pines, sable (cabbage) palms.