Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve

Explore the Preserve

• What to See
  • Plants - Explore the preserve’s majestic longleaf pine uplands widely spaced trees, dense groundcover of grasses, flowering plants, and diverse hardwood shrubs. In autumn, flowering plants display their full colors including butterfly pea, blazing star, and several species of aster. Alum Bluff offers sweeping views of the floodplain forest along the Apalachicola River from 135 feet above the river. The steep-sided slope forests are home to the Florida torreya, the second rarest conifer in North America. The preserve’s diverse habitats support a vast number of plants and animals, some found nowhere else. 
    
  • Animals - The preserve is home to several rare species of resident and migrating birds including the bald eagle, Mississippi and swallow-tailed kites, wild turkey, pine warbler, hooded warbler, Bachman’s sparrow, eastern bobwhite quail, and American woodcock. Gopher tortoises are common at the preserve; they are a keystone species whose burrows provide homes to hundreds of other species including insects, rodents, and other reptiles. The preserve also provides habitat for numerous snake species including Florida pine snake, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, copperhead, both grey and red rat snake, black racer, coachwhip, and the recently reintroduced Eastern indigo snake.
    
• Hiking Trail

  The Garden of Eden hiking trail is a 3.75-mile round-trip, self-guided trail through forests 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 ravine, descends steeply through the slope forest to cross a seepage stream and then ascends the opposite slope back to sandhills. The trail eventually opens to an iconic view at Alum Bluff. At 135 feet above the Apalachicola River, Alum Bluff is the largest natural geologic exposure in Florida.
  

  Download the trail guide to access information about the unique natural beauty of the preserve. Look for the numbered posts along the trail corresponding to the guide’s information. Plan on a minimum 3-hour hike. Bring 1-2 quarts of water per person, more during hot summer months. Please keep in mind that climbs are steep and arduous. Many find a hiking stick helpful. For your safety, please stay on the trail, observe all signs, and do not follow service roads. Stay well back from the edge at Alum Bluff as you follow the orange-blazed trail along the river. Pets are strictly prohibited.
  

• Preserve Rules

  For your safety and enjoyment, please observe our preserve rules:

  • Due to the fragile nature of the local soils, the trail is open to foot traffic only—bicycles and horses are not allowed.
  • Pets are not allowed on trail.
  • All plants, animals and other natural resources on the preserve are protected. Collecting of any kind is prohibited.
  • The bluff is unstable and dangerous, please stay off.
  • No littering, camping or fires allowed on the preserve.
  • Hunting occurs in the local area and on portions of the preserve, so brightly colored clothing is advised during hunting season (November through February).  
• Our Conservation Work
  • Longleaf Pine and Groundcover Restoration - The southeastern U.S. was once dominated by over 90 million acres of longleaf pine forest, but today, approximately five percent remains. For over 35 years preserve staff have worked to perfect the methodology and tools needed to restore the entire longleaf pine ecosystem from the iconic pine canopy to the vital and diverse grassy understory. These tools have been adopted by public and private partners across the longleaf pine range, resulting in the restoration of tens of thousands of acres. Groundcover restoration involves local seed collection and planting to restore the natural sandhill habitat on the preserve, as well as at Torreya State Park and other regional conservation lands.
    
  • Prescribed Fire – Fire is as essential as rain for native plants and animals to thrive; this critical and naturally occurring ecological process has shaped many plant and animal communities in Florida long before roads and houses existed on the landscape. Today, the preserve’s land managers conduct prescribed fires to mimic wildfires that would have been started naturally by lightning every 1-3 years. Fire serves several important ecological functions, and all species on the preserve rely on the presence of fire to maintain natural community balance. In addition to prescribed fire management on the preserve, our team responds to calls from partners to assist with prescribed fires on neighboring lands, often accomplishing 100,000 burned acres each year. 
    
  • Invasive Species Management - Invasive species damage habitats by competing directly with native species for resources. The preserve leads a Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA), working with partners to identify and prioritize invasive species to manage and monitor in the region. The preserve’s ongoing invasive species efforts focus primarily on cogon grass, Japanese climbing fern, small leaved spiderwort and Chinese Tallow Tree.
  • Research and Monitoring – The preserve provides a learning laboratory for scientific research in conservation. Numerous on-going monitoring projects increase our knowledge and effectiveness of our work at the preserve. Projects include biological monitoring for longleaf pine, tracking the Eastern indigo snake populations, effects of prescribed fire timing on wiregrass seed production and species recovery of the rare and ancient Florida Torreya tree.
    
  • Partnering for Conservation – The preserve staff partner with regional government and non-profit organizations to further collective conservation efforts. These efforts are highlighted by the comprehensive sandhill habitat restoration at Torreya State Park, adjacent to the preserve. TNC organized the first meetings of the Apalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance (ARSA) nearly 20 years ago and continues to coordinate the partnership today. Partners work together on longleaf pine and groundcover restoration, prescribed fire, invasive species management, water conservation and funding of these efforts through cooperative grant proposals. Partners include:
    • U.S. Forest Service
    • U.S. Department of Defense
    • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
    • Florida Forest Service
    • Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
    • Florida Department of Environmental Protection
    • Northwest Florida Water Management District
    • Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center
    • Tall Timbers Research Station
      
• Indigo Snake Reintroduction

  The Eastern indigo snake is the largest snake in North America and an apex predator, sitting at the top of the food chain. The indigo’s main prey other snakes: both venomous and non-venomous, preying upon snakes that may reduce the preserve’s songbird population. TNC and partners have rolled out a ten-year reintroduction plan on the preserve to achieve a sustainable population of indigos. Learn more about the indigo snake reintroduction efforts.  

• Get Involved

  For more information about visiting or volunteering, or if you are a researcher and would like access to the preserve please email VisitABRP@tnc.org or call 850-643-2756.