Big Cypress National Preserve: Kirby Storter Boardwalk (Blog Hike #243)

Trail: Kirby Storter Boardwalk Trail

Hike Location: Big Cypress National Preserve

Geographic Location: east of Ochopee, FL (25.86813, -81.15418)

Length: 0.7 miles

Difficulty: 0/10 (Easy)

Dates Hiked: May 2008, October 2014

Overview: A boardwalk trail leading to a bald cypress swamp.
Preserve Information: http://www.nps.gov/bicy/index.htm
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=721651
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: The trailhead is located in Kirby Storter Roadside Park, a sunny picnic area on US 41 in extreme south Florida.  The roadside park is located 44 miles west of SR 997 in Miami or 13.3 miles east of SR 29 in Ochopee.

The hike: When most people think of the Everglades, they think of the namesake Everglades National Park.  In fact, Everglades National Park contains only about half of the region known as the Everglades.  The rest lies on private land or on state and federal land west of the national park.

            One of these other federal lands is 720,000 acre Big Cypress National Preserve. The preserve is located immediately north and west of Everglades National Park.  Unlike the national park, which consists primarily of wet sawgrass prairie and tropical hammocks, Big Cypress National Preserve features some large bald cypress trees, hence the name.  Thus, visitors who are seeking a true “swamp” experience are often more impressed with this part of the Everglades than the national park itself.

            In addition to a gravel scenic road, three trails give the hiker access to the preserve.  The 0.3 mile Tree Snail Hammock Trail, located on the scenic road, takes visitors on a short walk through a tropical hammock similar to those you see in the national park.  When I hiked that trail, I did not see any of the colorful tree snails for which the trail is named, but while crossing the entrance bridge I did manage to frighten an alligator off of a log in the water beneath me.  I was safe on the bridge, but this is as close as I have ever come to an alligator.

            Also on the gravel scenic road, the Florida Trail begins its 1400 mile journey across the state.  26.5 miles of the trail lie in the preserve, but the fact that most of this trail lies under knee-deep water for much of the year makes for unpleasant hiking.  A final option, the Kirby Storter Boardwalk Trail, combines the best of both worlds, allowing the hiker to see the swamp forest without the inconvenience of wet feet and legs.  Also in the area is the Ochopee Post Office, a locally famous tourist stop known for being the smallest operating post office in the United States.  While not worth driving out of your way for, it is worth a stop if you are driving past it on US 41 on your way to this hike.

Boardwalk trailhead

            The boardwalk begins at an information board at the far end of the sunny roadside park.  While the information board says this trail is 1 mile long, I calculated the distance to be only 0.7 miles.  The boardwalk heads east through a sunny cypress dome featuring small cypress trees in the canopy and lots of grass on the floor.  A small shaded observation platform gives you an opportunity to view the dome in a quiet place.

Cypress Dome

            Past the platform, the trail descends into the swamp forest, losing about 2 feet of elevation along the way.  For an area as flat as the Everglades, 2 feet is a large elevation change, and very quickly the sunny cypress dome is left behind for the shady swamp forest.  Now you are in the tall timber, and the large bald cypress trees which give the preserve its name surround you.  The swamp forest is cooler but also more humid compared to the cypress dome, as standing water can now be seen beneath the boardwalk covering up the roots of the cypress trees.

Cypress trees along boardwalk

            At the midpoint of the hike, the boardwalk ends at a platform overlooking some relatively deep water in New River Strand, a major tributary of Sunday Bay and eventually the Gulf of Mexico.  The water here is too deep to support even bald cypress trees, so your chances of seeing waterfowl increase at this platform.  On the hot sultry afternoon I visited this area, very little was stirring, and all I saw were a couple of alligators and a blue heron.  After you have seen what there is to see at the platform, you have no choice but to turn around and retrace your steps along the boardwalk to the roadside park to complete the hike.

New River Strand, at end of boardwalk