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Oklawaha Valley Audubon SocietySections of theGREAT FLORIDA BIRDING TRAIL
 The Great Florida Birding Trail (GFBT) is a collection of sites throughout Florida selected for their excellent bird watching or bird education opportunities. Click on the logo above to visit the offical GFBT web site. The trail is composed of many separate trail segments, grouped in geographic "clusters". The OVAS service area and the GFBT's Swallow-tailer Kit Cluster are goegraphically similar. Each trail segment is designed to conserve and enhance Florida's bird habitat by promoting bird watching activities and environmental education. The Trail has a goal of being 2000 miles in total length. The Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society service area and the GFBT Swallow-tailed Kite Cluster contain four trail segments. All are under development and promise to be excellent birding locations for the general public. For a number of years these birding locations have been favorites of OVAS members. Emeralda Loop Trail - This GFBT segment starts at the Wood Duck parking area in the Emeralda Marsh, one of Florida's premiere wetland birding areas. It goes west through the woods and on dikes along wetland marshes. It then turns north near the shores of Lake Griffin, traveling along a dike with open marshes on both sides. Finally it turns east through wetlands returning to Emeralda Island Road near the S. N. Knight parking area. Total length of the trail is approximately 4.3 miles. You may hiked or cycle the trail daily or you drive the trail on weekends. The trail provides easy observation of birds on, around and high above the wetlands. The Emerald Loop Trail, better known as the Emeralda Interpretive Wildlife Drive, lies on land owned and managed by the St. John's River Water Management District. It is built in cooperation with the Lake County Department of Ecotourism. Contact Erwin Brock, 429-3673, Dept. of Ecotourism, for tour information. Trail use began in February 14, 2002. Click here for photos of the opening. The trail is open for driving from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting the third week of February, until the end of May. OVAS participates in the trail's operation by opening and closing the gates. The OVAS leader is Bob Rogers, OVAS Chairman of our Emeralda Wild Drive Committee. Hidden Waters Trail - This GFBT segment travels around Lake Alfred in the Hidden Waters Preserve of the Lake County Water Authority. Located southeast of Eustis FL, the trail is a walking trail of approximately one mile in length. It travels through upland forests and slops down 105 feet into a natural sinkhole. The sinkhole, formerly known as the Eichelberger Sink, is about a third of a mile in diameter. It shapes Lake Alfred which drains slowly into the Florida aquifer. This Trail segment is open but it is unmarked. The entrance is on Country Club Road, off Crooked Lake Road. Sunnyhill Restoration Area - This GFBT segment is part of the St. Johns River Water Managment District lands on Florida 42, north of Lake Griffin. See map. A description of Sunnyhill Farm is given on our Birding Hot Spots page. The area is reached by parking at the "Blue House" nature and history museum and walking or biking along the Ocklawaha River canal. The trail will be about 1.5 to 2.5 miles in length. Alexander Springs - This GFBT segment lies within the Ocala National Forest on the Timcuan Trail near Alexander Springs. See the description of the Ocala National Forest on our Birding Hot Spots page. See map.
Page Revised 5/30/02 |
The Great Florida Birding Trail is a program of the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission, supported in part by the