Crooked River State Park: Nature Center to Sempervirens Trail (Blog Hike #928)

Trails: Bay Boardwalk, Palmetto, Connector, and Sempervirens Trails
Hike Location: Crooked River State Park
Geographic Location: north of St. Marys, GA (30.84148, -81.55717)
Length: 3.4 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2023
Overview: A lollipop loop featuring longleaf pines, large live oaks, and a marsh view.
Park Information: https://gastateparks.org/CrookedRiver
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=929627
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: In southeast Georgia, take I-95 to SR 40 (exit 3).  Exit and go east on SR 40.  Drive SR 40 east 2 miles to Kings Bay Road and turn left on Kings Bay Rd.  Drive Kings Bay Rd. east 3 miles to SR 40 Spur and turn left on SR 40 Spur.  Drive SR 40 Spur north 3.5 miles to the signed park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, then turn right at the first two intersections, following signs for the Nature Center.  Park in the gravel lot beside the Nature Center.

The hike: Located on a deadend road beside the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, cozy Crooked River State Park protects 500 acres on the south bank of its namesake river.  The Crooked River is a tidal river, meaning its direction of flow depends mostly on the tide.  Thus, the park is a top-tier kayaking destination, and several kayak trails allow paddlers to ride the tide for ease or paddle against it for added difficulty.

            For visitors wishing to keep their feet on dry land, the park offers a nice 52-site developed campground, 11 cottages, 4 picnic shelters, and 5 hiking trails totaling over 4 miles.  By most accounts the park's best trail is the Sempervirens Trail, which explores the mature forest along the bank of Crooked River's marsh.  But the Sempervirens Trail is only 0.5 miles long, and the only direct access to that trail is from the park's cottage area.  This hike takes a cross-park route to get to the Sempervirens Trail by starting at the park's Nature Center, which increases both the length and the variety of scenery experienced on this hike.

Nature Center trailhead

            From the front of the Nature Center, look to the left (as you look at the front of the Nature Center) to find the signed start of the Bay Boardwalk Trail.  Marked with green plastic diamonds, the wide dirt trail heads south under large longleaf pine trees with a dense understory of palmetto.  At 0.3 miles, you reach a major trail intersection with the Palmetto Trail.  Turn right and then left to begin hiking east on the Palmetto Trail.  Note that a double right turn here would send you around the Bay Boardwalk Trail's loop, which is 1.25 miles long.

Major trail intersection

            Marked with yellow plastic diamonds, the Palmetto Trail heads east through more beautiful longleaf pine forest.  There is no noticeable elevation change anywhere on this hike.  I heard and saw a large number of birds here including some woodpeckers and an indigo bunting.  Ignore trails that lead to the primitive campground, which is visible through the forest to the right.

            0.7 miles into the hike, the Palmetto Trail splits.  The option going left leads to the park's cottage area, so you want to angle right to head for the Sempervirens Trail.  The park map calls this trail the Palmetto-Sempervirens Connector Trail; it is marked with both yellow and blue plastic diamonds.

Hiking the Palmetto Trail

            Hiking through more longleaf pine forest brings you to a T-intersection with the Sempervirens Trail at 1.2 miles.  Turn right to begin the Sempervirens Trail, then turn left to reach a bench that overlooks the Crooked River's marsh.  No signs of development can be seen across this wide marsh and river, and while the bird watching should be good here, I saw minimal signs of wildlife when I came here early on a Sunday afternoon.  The bench invites you to sit, rest, and observe the marsh near the midpoint of this hike.

Crooked River marsh

            Past the marsh view, I angled left where the Sempervirens Trail splits to form its loop, thus hiking the loop clockwise.  Sempervirens is Latin for "ever living," and while "ever" is an exaggeration, the massive live oak trees here have been living for hundreds of years.  The trail crosses some short old wooden boardwalks that seemed unnecessary when I came here, but maybe this area gets muddy after a good rain.  

Hiking the Sempervirens Trail

            At 2.1 miles, you close the Sempervirens Trail's loop.  Turn left and retrace your steps back along the Palmetto and Bay Boardwalk Trails to return to the Nature Center and complete the hike.  If you want to add some variety and some length to your return route, you could take the western arm of the Bay Boardwalk Trail instead of the shorter eastern arm as described above.  Such a choice would add 0.6 miles to the distance and take you through some very wet areas if it has rained recently.