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Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve protects one of the rarest of habitats: steephead streams and ravines. The Apalachicola River and Bay region is a biological hotspot, unique to Florida and home to a disproportionate number of imperiled species. The preserve is currently being restored and transformed into a classic, intact sandhill habitat.
Bristol, Florida (about one hour west of Tallahassee in north Liberty County).
The preserve is open to the public from dawn to dusk, year-round.
6,295 acres
A 3.75-mile, round-trip, self-guided trail takes you through an enchanting area that local legend claims is the original Garden of Eden. Beginning in longleaf pine/wiregrass uplands, the trail soon skirts the top of a dramatic steephead, descends steeply through the slope forest to cross a steephead stream and then ascends the slope forest through sandhills.The trail eventually opens to a spectacular view at Alum Bluff. At 135 feet above the Apalachicola River, Alum Bluff is the largest natural geological exposure in Florida!
Only foot travel is allowed on the trail. To protect the preserve's rare plants, animals, and cultural and geologic features, the following are not allowed: pets, smoking, littering, camping, climbing on the bluffs, collecting, firearms, fires, hunting and radios.
Visitors should plan on a 3-hour hike, bring 1 – 2 quarts of water per person, and may wish to bring a hiking stick to assist with the steep climbs and descents. Please keep in mind that the trail is steep and the climbs are arduous.
For your safety, please observe trail signs at Alum Bluff and stay well back from the edge as you follow the orange-blazed trail along the river bluff. The bluff is an active slide area and abandoned sections of trail are badly undercut and prone to collapse.
Please leave dogs at home. Dogs are not allowed on the trail.
For more information about visiting or volunteering, or if you are a researcher and would like access to the preserve, contact Maggie McDaniel or call (850) 643-2756.
The preserve is located at 10394 NW Longleaf Drive, Bristol, FL 32321.
From Bristol:
From Tallahassee:
The preserve protects two of the world’s rarest evergreens, the Florida torreya and Florida yew. Yews are seen along the botanical loop trail, but live torreyas are no longer visible along the trail. Other plants of interest include the large-leaved, large-flowered Ashe’s magnolia; pyramid magnolia; Florida anise; mountain laurel; oak leaf hydrangea; spring ephemerals such as trillium and wild ginger; Gholson's blazing star; numerous ferns; and an array of fall-blooming sandhill wildflowers and grasses including toothed basil and lopsided Indiangrass.
The preserve provides a home to several species of resident and migrating birds including bald eagles, red-cockaded woodpeckers, Mississippi kites, swallow-tailed kites, wild turkeys, worm-eating warblers, hooded warblers, Bachman’s sparrow, Louisiana water thrush and Swainson’s warblers.
Steephead streams and ravines are among the rarest of freshwater habitats. These unusual geologic features provide refuge for a number of Florida’s plants and animals—some found nowhere else on Earth. The preserve also protects longleaf pine and sandhill uplands, breathtaking river bluffs and million year-old fossils.
The Nature Conservancy undertook a massive project in 1985 to restore the property. Years of management for industrial timber production left little of the once-vibrant sandhill community. Now, after 24 years of restoration effort, the sandhill community is beginning to return to its former glory. Indicator species that were displaced are starting to return; the sandhill community now boasts healthy populations of wild turkey, bobwhite quail, Bachman’s sparrow, Florida pine snake and gopher tortoise. The preserve is a model of vibrant landscapes in all stages of rebirth.
Prescribed fire has been returned to this fire-dependent landscape so that native plants and animals will thrive. Regular fire supports longleaf pine habitat, stimulates growth and flowering of critical groundcover such as wiregrass, and keeps hardwood species in check.
Staff and volunteers have hand-planted millions of longleaf pine seedlings and wiregrass plugs. All species are started in an on-site nursery from seed collected on the preserve.
Conservancy staff has developed a process that takes prepared, bare sand to an intact, fire-ready wiregrass habitat in 40 months. These and other techniques are now being shared with land managers all over the southeastern United States.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © The Nature Conservancy (Alum Bluff); The Nature Conservancy (AL spiny-pod) Photo © TNC (people viewing Alum Bluff).
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