Hiking in Ralph E. Simmons Memorial State Forest

Monday, February 27, 2023

Hi Blog!

After two days of paddling, we needed to give our arms a rest. We cast about for an interesting hike. Just a few miles south of Folkston, Georgia is the Ralph E. Simmons Memorial State Forest. This Florida State Park is located along the Georgia/Florida border along the banks of the St. Mary's River. It promised 12 different forest communities. There are three different loops that provided over 10 miles of hiking. We set our sights on the 7 mile White Sand Landing Loop.

After a leisurely morning, we arrived at the trailhead around noon.

We started our hike on an old woods road through an upland longleaf pine forest. On the right side of the trail, the forest undergrowth has been cleared allowing the wiregrass to take bloom.

The most extensive terrestrial ecosystem in Florida is the pine flatwoods. This community evolved under frequent lightning and human-caused fire, and seasonal drought and flooded soil conditions. Pine flatwoods are characterized by low, flat topography, relatively poorly drained, acidic, sandy soil and, in the past, by open pine woodlands with frequent fires.

We were surprised to see this bird box right next to the trail. We checked, but no one was home:

It was easy to spot the Gopher Tortoise dens. Gopher tortoises serve as a keystone species of the longleaf pine ecosystem providing critical habitat for approximately 360 different species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates that spend all or a portion of their lives in active or abandoned gopher tortoise burrows. These large burrows are a safe haven during frequent forest fires. In fact, the Gopher Tortoise needs fire to open up the canopy and control the growth of woody shrubs. Fire allows more sunlight to reach the forest floor, thus encouraging the growth of grasses and other food plants as well as increasing areas for basking and nesting.

The trail took a downhill turn toward the St. Mary's River. The vegetation became thicker and ferns lined the trailside.

We knew when we started our hike that the northern part of the forest was closed to hiking. We assumed it was for a prescribed burn. Part of our trail was through a section of the forest that was recently burned. The fire was so recent, there were still "hot spots" flaming up. We checked the surrounding area and there was no danger of the fire spreading, as the surrounding area was already burned out.

We decided to take the side trail to Hawkins' Shop Landing Camp. We were hoping to find a picnic table and make it our lunch stop. 

After a quarter mile, we reached the camping area just above the banks of the St. Marys River. The St. Marys River is 126-mile-long. From near its source in the Okefenokee Swamp, to its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean, it forms a portion of the border between Georgia and Florida. 

The small beach area allows boaters to tie up and camp. (Ed: Kathy did check for alligators before climbing down to the beach.)

Not only did the camping area have a picnic table, it also had a fire ring and benches. After a relaxing lunch, we were sorry to leave this pretty spot, but Ruby was waiting for her afternoon walk.

On our way back to the trailhead, we did stop to smell the flowers.

Unlike most oak trees, which are deciduous, southern live oaks are nearly evergreen. They replace their leaves over a short period of several weeks in the spring. Sweet, tapered acorns produced by the trees are eaten by birds and mammals, including sapsuckers, mallards, wild turkeys, squirrels, black bears, and deer. The threatened Florida scrub jay relies on the scrub form of the southern live oak for nesting. Other birds make use of the moss that frequently hangs from the tree branches to construct nests. Their long sweeping branches are cool.  This live oak has somehow survived and wrapped its arms around its neighboring longleaf pines:

The state forest does allow hunting, but it doesn't look like this check station has been used for years.  We were grateful for the advice given us in the sign:

We finished our hike having covered a little over six miles. We have some chores to do tomorrow, so this is will probably be our last blog in the Folkston area. Our next move will take us to Darien, Georgia near the Georgia coast. Stay tuned!