When you reach the end of the Scrub Trail loop, turn left to exit, then make a right at the map. Make a left at the next T, at 2.6 miles (the trail to the right follows park roads to the Hackberry Trail) to join a shaded corridor edged with sword fern and wild coffee. It’s a pleasant, narrow footpath through a dense, hardwood forest, making a sharp right at a T intersection that leads towards the Scrub Trail. This part of the preserve is used by trail runners and joggers, so be alert if someone comes up fast behind you. Bracken fern grows next to the footpath, in the sun under the hickory trees. As this trail loops around, the transition back into the scrub forest becomes obvious.
You pop into a clearing with a fenced building in it. Turn left. Follow this park road to the beginning of the Jogging Trail. At the four-way intersection, turn left to exit. If seeing hundreds of names underfoot on the boardwalks has you wanting to be immortalized too, stop by the Margaret Hames Nature Center and make a contribution to the cause. When you return to your car, you’ve completed a 3.1-mile hike.
OTHER HIKING OPTIONS
1. Turkey Creek Boardwalks. Focus your visit on the easy and accessible boardwalks that have been restored and, in some places, rebuilt entirely after flooding from Hurricane Irma in 2018. There is a short section of level, natural surface between the Nature Center and the start of the Creek Overlook Trail where wheelchairs may require some assistance. Following both the Creek Overlook Trail (round-trip) and the Hammock Loop Trail (round-trip and loop) nets you a 1.3-mile exploration of the most scenic portion of the preserve along its boardwalks.
2. Sand Pine/Turkey Oak Loop. These upland trails start immediately north of the beginning of the Creek Overlook Trail boardwalk and make a 1.1-mile loop. Add on a spur walk to the end of the Floodplain Trail and back for a 1.5-mile hike.
3. Red Trail (28.0151, -80.5956). On the east side of Turkey Creek, a popular put-in for kayakers also provides access to a 1-mile loop trail through upland habitats and along a short section of the creek.
4. Cameron Preserve (28.0125, -80.5956). Across from the Red Trail, a little south along Briar Creek Boulevard, Cameron Preserve is one of the newer public lands in the south end of Brevard County. Linking together Turkey Creek Sanctuary and Malabar Scrub Sanctuary, it offers many miles of trails to explore, all of which are open to mountain biking. Restrooms and a larger trailhead parking area are at 1400 Marie Street, Malabar, FL 32950. For trail maps, see malabartrails.org
CAMPING AND LODGING
Wickham Park Campground, 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935 (321-255-4307, brevardfl.gov)
Holiday Inn Express Palm Bay, 1206 Malabar Road SE, Palm Bay, FL 32907 (321-220-2003, ihg.com)
Copyright © 2019 by Sandra Friend and John Keatley
Copyright © 2011, 2002 by Sandra Friend
Maps by Erin Greb Cartography © The Countryman Press
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50 Hikes in Central Florida Page 34