Trails: (numerous)
Hike Location: Turkey Creek Sanctuary
Geographic Location: Palm Bay, FL (28.01703, -80.60417)
Length: 3.2 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: January 2021
Overview: A semiloop featuring a long boardwalk through many different habitats.
Sanctuary Information:
https://www.palmbayflorida.org/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/86/1647?npage=2
Hike Route Map:
https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=853858Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: In southeast Florida, take I-95 to Palm Bay Road (exit 178). Exit and go east on Palm Bay Rd. Drive Palm Bay Rd. east 2.3 miles to Babcock Street and turn right on Babcock St. Drive Babcock St. south 1.1 miles to Port Malabar Blvd. and turn left on Port Malabar Blvd. Drive Port Malabar Blvd. east 1.1 miles to the signed entrance for Turkey Creek Sanctuary on the right. Turn right, and park in the sanctuary's parking lot behind the Palm Bay Community Center but before the Palm Bay Library.
The hike: Owned and maintained by the City of Palm Bay, cozy Turkey Creek Sanctuary occupies 130 acres in a heavily residential area of suburban Melbourne. The sanctuary was established only in 1981, and it protects a wide variety of habitats including sandy pine, hardwood hammock, and creekside floodplain. The Margaret Hames Nature Center contains some interesting exhibits about these habitats, but it was closed due to the Covid pandemic on my visit.
Turkey Creek Sanctuary is a stop on the Great Florida Birding Trail, and the sanctuary's locally famous 1.85 mile boardwalk provides a great opportunity for wildlife viewing. Yet to explore all of the sanctuary's habitats, you will need to hike more than just the boardwalk. This hike combines an extended trip on the boardwalk with two loops on the sanctuary's dirt trails, thus exploring all the sanctuary has to offer. While some suburban sanctuaries make for crowded and unremarkable hikes, this sanctuary has so much to offer in addition to the boardwalk that I consider it a hidden gem of a hiking destination on Florida's east coast.
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| Main trailhead at Turkey Creek Sanctuary |
Start on the mulch trail that goes around the south side of the Nature Center building. You may want to take a picture of the map on the information board in front of the Nature Center: this sanctuary has many unmarked trails in a small area, and I found the map useful for navigating the trail system. Stay left at each trail intersection, including the west end of the boardwalk (this hike returns on the boardwalk), to begin hiking the Turkey Oak Trail. A sign warns that this trail is "primitive," but it was in good shape on my visit, and I had no trouble hiking it.
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| Hiking the Turkey Oak Trail |
The sandy dirt Turkey Oak Trail winds through the northern part of the sanctuary, which features scrub pine forest with a dense understory of palmettos. Some traffic noise from nearby Port Malabar Blvd. filters in from the left. Ignore side trails that exit left, and follow white and brown metal arrows that indicate the main trail.
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| Spur boardwalk in floodplain |
At 0.6 miles, the Turkey Oak Trail ends at an intersection with the Sand Pine Trail. Turn left on the Sand Pine Trail to head for the east end of the boardwalk. On your way to the boardwalk, you pass a short spur trail that exits left and heads for Turkey Creek's floodplain. This slightly steep spur is worth taking: it provides your only chance on this hike to get down to creek level. The spur ends at a short wooden boardwalk, where you need to turn around and retrace your steps back to the main trail.
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| Main boardwalk |
0.9 miles into the hike, you step onto the east end of the boardwalk. The wooden boardwalk is extremely wide and sturdy, and a pair of overlooks offer fantastic blufftop views of Turkey Creek, which is almost 20 feet below you. At 1.15 miles, you reach an intersection on the boardwalk with options going straight and left. To see the entire boardwalk, turn left to begin hiking the boardwalk loop through the hardwood hammock.
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| Blufftop boardwalk view of Turkey Creek |
The hardwood hammock features some tall oak and palm trees with a dense understory of ferns and vines. The boardwalk descends slightly and soon reaches another overlook of Turkey Creek, this one closer to creek level. I saw one of the sanctuary's famous and pesky raccoons from this overlook, and further down the trail I saw a gopher tortoise burrowing in the sand. After passing the canoe launch area, the boardwalk curves right multiple times before closing the hardwood hammock boardwalk loop. Turn left to get back to the main boardwalk, then turn left again to complete the first loop at the west end of the boardwalk.
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| Raccoon |
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| Gopher tortoise |
You step off of the boardwalk less than 750 feet from the parking lot, so if all you want to do is hike the boardwalk, you can continue straight for a total hike of just under 2 miles. To also explore the sanctuary's southwest corner, turn left to begin the Jogging and Exercise Trail. As its name suggests, the Jogging and Exercise Trail features several workout stations, and it is similar to what I have seen called a Parcourse Trail in other parts of the country.
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| Approaching the sanctuary's west boundary |
The trail winds back and forth through sandy, scrubby forest until it approaches the sanctuary's west boundary, where it curves left to intersect a dirt maintenance road. Turn left on the dirt road to begin heading east with the man-made Melbourne Tillman Canal through the trees on your right. Upon reaching the cul de sac at the road's end, exit the back of the cul de sac on a narrow single-track dirt path. The narrow trail winds a couple more times before intersecting the boardwalk's hardwood hammock loop again at 2.7 miles. Turn left three times on the boardwalk to reach the boardwalk's west end for a third time, but this time continue straight to return to the parking lot and complete the hike.
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