| Ocala National Forest | |
|---|---|
 Farles Prairie in Ocala National Forest | |
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| Location | Florida, U.S. |
| Nearest city | Ocala, FL |
| Coordinates | 29°10′25″N81°49′18″W / 29.17361°N 81.82167°W /29.17361; -81.82167 |
| Area | 430,447 acres (1,741.96 km2) |
| Max. elevation | 193 ft (59 m): 29.0518, -81.6858 |
| Established | 1908 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
| Website | Ocala National Forest |
TheOcala National Forest is the second largest nationally protected forest in theU.S. State ofFlorida. It covers 607 square miles (1,570 km2) ofNorth Central Florida. It is located three miles (4.8 km) east ofOcala and 16 miles (26 km) southeast ofGainesville. The Ocala National Forest, established in 1908, is the oldestnational forest east of theMississippi River[1] and the southernmost national forest in thecontinental U.S. The wordOcala is thought to be a derivative of aTimucuan term meaning "fair land" or "bighammock". The forest is headquartered inTallahassee, as are all three National Forests in Florida, but there are localranger district offices located inSilver Springs andUmatilla.
The Ocala National Forest lies between theOcklawaha andSt. Johns rivers in North Florida. In descending order of land area, it is located in parts ofMarion,Lake, andPutnam counties.
The Ocala Forest is also known for having over 600 naturallakes andponds. Between the river boundaries of this Forest lie central highlands, coastal lowlands,swamps,springs, and hundreds of lakes and ponds. Near theJuniper Prairie Wilderness andJuniper Springs is "The Yearling Trail", the location whereThe Yearling was filmed.
The Ocala National Forest receives more visitors than any other national forest in the Sunshine State. Millions visit the forest annually, which is one of North Florida's last-remaining traces of forested land. The forest's porous sands, and largely undeveloped lands, provide an important recharge for theFloridan Aquifer. TheRodman Reservoir system forms most of the northern and northwestern border as part of theOcklawaha River Basin.
TheUnited States Navy's Pinecastle Bombing Range in the Ocala National Forest is the only place on the East Coast where the Navy can do live impact training. The Navy drops nearly 20,000 bombs a year at the site, a few hundred of which are live. The Pinecastle Bombing Range is a fenced 5,760 acres (23.3 km2) area, with the eastern edge of the range located about 2 miles (3.2 km) west ofState Road 19 and the Camp Ocala campgrounds, and one-half mile (800 m) west of the Farles Lake campground.F/A-18 Hornet jet fighters and other aircraft take off fromNaval Air Station Jacksonville or from aircraft carriers off the Florida coast, fly low over the forest, and drop their bombs in the middle 450 acres (1.8 km2) of the range.P-3 Orion andP-8 Poseidon aircraft will also use an instrumented range in the southeast quadrant ofLake George to conduct aerial mining training utilizing inert 500lb mines. All air-to-ground exercises using conventional ordnance up to and including 500 pounds (230 kg) MK 82 bombs and five-inch (127 mm) Zuni rockets are authorized.Napalm and High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) are prohibited. Live ordnance is restricted to the Live Ordnance Impact Area; inert ordnance is used on all other targets. Pinecastle targets have also been certified for laser operations. The Navy has used the area for target practice for 50 years under a special use permit from theU.S. Forest Service.
Theghost town ofKerr City is in the forest. It is located onCounty Road 316 just west ofState Road 19.
The Ocala National Forest is in thesoutheastern conifer forests and theFlorida scrubecoregions. Dry, sandy areas supportFlorida longleaf pine sandhills (also called "high pine") and Florida scrub. Longleaf pine sandhills are woodlands dominated bylongleaf pine. Florida scrub consists of a more or less dense shrub layer often with a tree canopy ofsand pines. Both of these pine communities are sustained by frequent fires. The Ocala National Forest contains a high proportion of remaining inland scrub habitat and is noted for its sand pine scrub ecosystem. The forest contains the largest concentration of sand pine in the world as well as some of the best remaining stands of longleaf pine in northern Florida. Where fire is absent,southern coastal plain oak domes and hammocks can grow. These are small stands of thick evergreen oaks.
The forest contains several slow-moving rivers and numerous wet "prairies".Blackwater rivers supportsouthern coastal plain blackwater river floodplain forests of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) along their banks. The forest's spring-fed rivers supportsouthern coastal plain hydric hammocks, hammocks of evergreen and hardwood trees, near their floodplains. The prairies areFloridian highlands freshwater marshes.Southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamps are large, seasonally flooded depressions of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) and swamp tupelo (Nyssa biflora).[2]
The Big Scrub (earlier called the Etonia scrub) is a large area of Florida scrub, about 40 miles (64 km) long and 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) wide, including about 200,000 acres (312 sq mi; 809 km2) of scrub habitat, out of the 366,037 acres (572 sq mi; 1,481 km2) in the national forest.[3][4] It has been described as a sea of scrub with islands of high pine (Florida longleaf pine sandhill), while elsewhere in Florida patches of scrub have been described as islands occurring in a sea of high pine.[5] The shrub layer of the Big Scrub generally consists of several evergreen oaks and other woody shrubs, some of which are not commonly found elsewhere in Florida scrub patches.[a][4]
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lived much of her adult life just a few miles north of the Big Scrub inCross Creek, Florida. She reported that the only inhabitants of the area lived inhammocks along streams or next to lakes, but not in the scrub itself. Rawlings based some of her writings (includingSouth Moon Under andThe Yearling) on the lives of the settlers around the Big Scrub after staying with families there.[6] She described the Big Scrub in detail, stating that it was unique in the world. She wrote, "There is no human habitation—there never has been and probably never will be—in the scrub itself." She called the scrub "a vast wall, keeping out the timid and the alien."[7]Patrick D. Smith, in writing about Rawlings, stated about the Big Scrub, "In all of America there is not a more wild and hostile land."[8]
Periodic fires are necessary for the long term maintenance of Florida scrub. Fires in scrub are intense, killing sand pine trees and burning shrubs to the ground.[9] A fire started by a lightning strike in the Big Scrub in 1935 became the fastest spreading wildfire in the history of theUnited States Forest Service. The fire consumed 35,000 acres (55 sq mi; 140 km2) in four hours, spreading at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h). The Forest Service now conducts periodic burns in the Big Scrub after sand pines have been harvested from an area.[10]
Ocala has a wide variety of wildlife. TheFlorida black bear population has its highest concentration here, andWest Indian manatees frequent the inland waterways.Alligators,boar,bobcat,coyote, andwhite-tailed deer are all common. There are also numerous smaller animals, including (several types of)bats,eastern gray squirrels,gray fox,opossum,raccoon,red fox,nine-banded armadillo,river otter,striped skunks andsoutheastern pocket gophers. The sandy soil is home to the endangeredgopher frog andgopher tortoise, whose extensive burrows provide important refuge for many other mammals, reptiles and amphibians.Herpetiles are abundant at Ocala, including species such as thebarking frog,bullfrog,coachwhip,corn snake,brown andbanded watersnakes,common snapping turtle,eastern coralsnakes,diamondback rattlesnakes,fence lizards,musk turtles,spadefoot toads andratsnakes,Florida cottonmouths,Florida crowned snake,redbelly turtles,scrub lizards andsoftshell turtles,garter snakes,green anole (as well as the invasivebrown anole),little brown skink,North American green treefrogs andracers,oak toads,peninsula cooter,pig frogs,pine snakes,pine woods tree frogs,pond sliders,pygmy rattlesnakes,ribbon snakes,ring-necked snakes,rough green snakes, thescarletsnake,six-lined racerunner,squirrel treefrogs, andsouthern five-lined skinks,southern leopard frogs andsouthern toads. An introduced population of AsianRhesus macaques, originally a tourist attraction atSilver Springs State Park, have also ranged into the region and are occasionally seen.[11]
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The Ocala National Forest has an accommodating climate for year-round recreation. The mild winters are fine for family camping while a summer canoe trip down a palm-lined stream is a cool way to spend an August day. The temperatures for the dry months of November through February range from a daily average of 50 °F (10 °C) to a high of 72 °F (22 °C). The summer season is much warmer and wetter. Short afternoon thundershowers often raise the humidity to about 90% while the temperatures range from 80 to 95 °F (27 to 35 °C). The average rainfall is approximately 55 inches (1,400 mm) per year.
Water plays an important part in a variety of recreational opportunities in the forest. Activities range from canoeing, boating, fishing, skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, and the use of personal watercraft. Several boat ramps are available in the forest.
Manyhiking trails run through the forest including theFlorida Trail, Salt Springs Observation Trail, Lake EatonSinkhole Trail, St. Francis Trail, and Yearling Trail.
Bicyclists can travel along a challenging 22-mile (35 km) long ride on the Paisley Woods Bicycle Trail, because this trail is not paved, .Mountain bikes are ideal and encouraged for this environment.[12]
The Ocala National Forest has three trail systems foroff-highway vehicles (OHV): the Ocala North OHV Trail System with six trail loops that are 125 miles (201 km) long, the Wandering Wiregrass OHV Trail in the southeast of the forest with a trail length of 17 miles (27 km), and the Ocala Centennial OHV Trail system which was added in 2008 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the forest. A small trail 20 miles (32 km) long called the Scrubjay and a longer trail 42 miles (68 km) long called the Centennial may be accessed from trailheads off FR 573.SR 40, and the Big Scrub Campground. Some areas are restricted to off-road vehicles.
There are many trails for horseback riding in the forest. Forest riding trails are old roads 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) wide, marked at intervals with painted spots – called blazes – on the trees. Some of the best trails include the One Hundred Mile trail and the LAM trail.
The Ocala National Forest is a wildlife management area, in which hunting and fishing activities are managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A permit is required for all hunters (except those indicated as exempt) to hunt in this area. A Quota Hunt Permit may also be required during certain periods or certain game.
A public shooting range is located at the center of the National Forest Forest Road 11, north of S.R. 40 in the Ocala National Forest.
The following is a list of lakes in or on the border of the forest:
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There are four officially designatedwilderness areas lying within Ocala National Forest that are part of theNational Wilderness Preservation System.
| International | |
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| Other | |
