Manatees at Crystal River

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We were hoping to get in some manatee viewing while we were in Florida this winter. We had spent the month of December 2018 in Cedar Key and drove up to Manatee Springs State Park a couple times to check them out. We had also visited Homosassa Springs State Park where they have a few resident manatees as well as the “wild” ones that come into the warm spring waters. We looked to see what other places there were in the area and came upon Crystal River Florida about a 45 minute drive north of us.

Each year in mid-January, they hold a festival which on one hand sounded like fun but on the other hand, it meant there would be large crowds detracting from the manatee viewing pleasure. Since we didn’t really feel the need to check out large numbers of craft vendors and food trucks, we decide to skip the festival and head up sometime after the festival. We investigated how to increase your odds of seeing manatees and found the optimal conditions are when the overnight temperatures are cold and the tide is high. The week after the festival was having cold enough weather, but the tides weren’t working in our favor. We checked the extended weather forecast and tide charts to determine which day we would head there. We picked Monday January 24. We were having below freezing nights and high tide would be mid-morning plus the weather looked to be nice and sunny.

The actual destination in Crystal River is a National Wildlife Refuge - specifically Three Sisters Springs. The place isn’t very large at only 60 acres and surrounded by residential property on three sides and businesses to the east. The only reason I mention this is the only vehicles permitted inside the park are ones with handicap placards. All other visitors must either be on foot or in one of the shuttle buses that run from downtown Crystal River. Instead of dealing with crowds and waiting for the bus, we found a public parking lot at the corner of NE 1st Ave and NE 3rd St. Just two blocks east of there is a paved walking path that heads down to the entrance to the refuge. It’s only 2/3 mile walk so it didn’t take us long. The entrance fee is $20 per person but those over 55 are considered seniors so it came to $35 for the two of us. A chalkboard at the entrance booth informed us there were 300+ manatees this morning!

Once inside, it’s another 1/3 mile walk back to the beginning of the boardwalk. A worker was carrying a few construction cones along the boardwalk and we asked if a portion was closed. He said some of the water on the boardwalk had frozen overnight and the cones were to warn people. Now that the sun was out, the ice was gone. Our goal of cold temperatures had been achieved. To help with the overall scope of Three Sisters Springs, I’ve attached a snapshot from Google Earth and drew in the approximate location of the boardwalk (red line) around the actual spring area. The full length of the boardwalk is about a quarter mile.

Aerial of Three Sisters Springs (boardwalk in red)

The boardwalk has a few viewing bump outs that provide decent view of the springs below. The first area we stopped at had many dozens of manatees in the small pond. Many of them are submerged, laying on the bottom and don’t really move so they can look like rocks. Every now and then, they come up to the surface to take another deep breath and then sink back down. A few of them would expel the air in their lungs with such force that unidentified particles would spew 20 feet in front of them. Fortunately none that were close to the boardwalk performed that trick!

Dozens of Manatees

Tail End

Up for Air

Staring at Me

Blowing Bubbles

We continued out on the eastern side of the boardwalk to the end. From this spot, we could get a view of the exit of the springs to the canal. This was where there was a lot of human activity going on. There was a combination of kayakers and people snorkeling. It was rather crowded with people jockeying for position near manatees. One of the volunteers on the boardwalk explained that when there are as many manatees at the springs as there was today, the actual springs are off limits to humans. It sounded like later in the season when the number of manatees is low, the people are permitted into the area of the springs.

More Manatees

Kayaks Near Springs Exit

We backtrack and head along the boardwalk on the north side of the springs and get to the other side. Along the way are several more viewing spots. One area in particular had amazingly clear waters and the manatees were even easier to see.

Very Clear Water

The boardwalk ends and a gravel path continues on along the edge of the canal. On the opposite side are some very nice homes that are likely quite expensive. There are several spots along this trail that have a decent view of the water. There seems to be a large number of manatees out here as well - possibly a combination of the temperatures rising and the tide heading out. Besides the numerous volunteers that will answer questions about manatees, there were a handful of workers with cameras and clipboards. We overheard them explaining they are documenting the manatees by taking pictures and identifying them by their scars or other markings. We spotted one manatee with several chunks of its tail missing - likely an accident with a boat propeller.

Nice Homes Across the Canal

Manatees in the Canal

Manatee with Tail Damage

We weren’t tired of seeing manatees but we had explored the boardwalk completely so we decided to check out some more of the trail system within the park. There were some small ponds and other marshy areas that had an assortment of birds. As we came around one corner of the trail, we could hear the sounds of a woodpecker overhead. It didn’t take us long to spot the pileated woodpecker about 15 feet up in a tree next to the trail. These are large birds that we don’t run into very often. A normal sighting for us is in a heavily wooded area below the tree canopy so it’s almost always dimly lit. They invariably are more than 100 feet away and they fly from tree to tree not staying still for very long. Getting a picture of one has always been a challenge for me so I was happy that this one was really interested in one spot on the tree and was this close in sunlight. It didn’t seem to mind us watching for quite some time. Bark and wood chips would fall as it worked hard on that one spot.

Pond and Marshland in Preserve

Pileated Woodpecker

Peck, Peck, Peck

We returned to the boardwalk for another manatee check. The first pool looked to have nearly as many of them as when we first arrived but as we worked our way to the spring’s exit, the progression of them heading out from the springs was rather astounding. The exit is narrow enough that they almost need to go thru single file. While we were watching them, all of a sudden there was a simultaneous splash from each manatee. Apparently something spooked them and they all did a strong tail flip to get away from it.

Heading Out of Springs

We worked our way around to the other side of the boardwalk and checked out the ones in the clearer portion of the spring. There was at least one very young one likely nestled in next to its mother. As we continued on the gravel path next to the canal, a new batch of snorkelers had arrived. Since I don’t swim, I’ll have to be like the turtle we saw and simply watch the manatees from land. We continued along the perimeter trail and it eventually got us back to the main entrance and the walking trail back to our car.

Surreal Looking Water

Baby Manatee

Snorkeling with Manatees

Turtle Watches Manatees Pass By

It was a fun morning but we were getting hungry, so we found some food in town and then headed to Crystal River Preserve State Park. The Churchhouse Hammock Trail is just a little over a mile long, but there were a few geocaches along the way. It was nice to get a real walk in since manatee viewing is a very slow pace. Sections of the trail were rather rutted probably from feral pigs but overall it was a nice walk in the woods.

Entrance to Crystal River Preserve State Park

Brooksville Part 7

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In an earlier post, I wrote about three visits we had to Potts Preserve - a little northeast of Inverness Florida. It is managed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and sits on the western side of the Withlacoochee River. As it turns out, there is another site on the opposite side of the river from Potts. The Half Moon Wildlife Management Area is just a little bit larger and run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. There are a few geocaches hidden there so we decide to bring our mountain bikes and give this one a try. The entrance to Half Moon is about 1.5 miles north of State Route 44 up county road 247. When we arrived, the gate was unlocked and open. The person that placed the geocaches in Half Moon, made a point to parking outside the gate since it can be closed and locked at any time and you might get locked in! Since we were here for a bike ride, parking in the large field outside the fence was the obvious choice. 

Entrance to Half Moon WMA

There was a sign at the entrance about checking in at the building in a mile but it wasn’t clear what that was about. The main road is a hard packed gravel that was a bit rough but not too bad. It just required a bit more concentration to avoid larger holes. There were some free range cattle grazing near the road on our way in. At the building, it became clear that the check-in was pertaining to hunters. So while it didn’t directly relate to us, the fact there was hunting taking place did concern us. We asked the people at the building if it was safe for us to be riding our bikes back here. They told us we should be okay but there were a bunch of guys hunting for feral hogs. We decide to stick to the main road, even though there are lots of other side roads and trails that looked inviting. There was one large creek crossing but fortunately this one had a rather substantial wooden bridge over it so we didn’t need to get wet feet to cross.

Grazing

Water Crossing from Bridge

At the 2.5 mile point we spotted a nice picnic table in the shade just off the road. It was a good time for lunch so we stopped to take advantage of amenity. Nobody else stopped to join us but we did see the occasional pickup truck coming in or going out - presumably hunters. We didn’t see any pigs strapped to the hood of the trucks and we really didn’t hear any gun shots which was fine by us. Just across from our picnic spot was a small pond, and boardwalk with a view over some wetlands. Google has this place called Bat House Pond and since there is a large bat house nearby, I suppose it’s a fitting name. There was a nice view of the surrounding area but we didn’t see any wildlife. 

Boardwalk Near Picnic Area

View Over Bat House Pond

Lily Pads in Pond

We continue north on the main road and see a truck or two pulled off the road but we didn’t see any guys out hunting. That’s not to say we didn’t see any wildlife along the ride. At one point there were three of the free range cattle just off the road. The cows weren’t all that interesting but there were a couple of birds with them. I remember seeing a bird called a “cattle egret” in my birding app. From the looks of them, I’d say that what we had. The birds were a bit skittish and flew off as we approached. But we stopped and just stood to watch and sure enough they circled back and resumed their activities. They are definitely smaller than the normal egret but this species teams up with cattle in a symbiotic sort of way. As the cattle move about, they stir up insects and the birds are there to eat them. The birds also eat parasites and other bugs from the cattle. It was quite remarkable to see the birds land on the back of the cattle which barely even noticed their presence. 

Cattle Egret Perched

A Staring Contest with Cow

We continued up the main road and at about the 5.5 mile mark, the road dies out. There is a forest road that continues with a “no vehicles beyond this point” sign. It looked to be in decent enough shape to be ridden by our bikes but there was a pickup truck parked in the turnaround so we suspected a hunter was nearby. Plus we had the 5.5 miles back to the car so we decided to just turn around. Since we just backtracked on the main road, there was anything new to see. When we got back to the check-in building, we were greeted by the same crew that told us we should be okay. This was a fun area and there’s lots more to explore. We just need to figure out the hunting schedule and definitely not come on a weekend day.

Minor Road at Northern End of Half Moon

Large Pine

A couple days later, we head to Cypress Lake Preserve, an Hernando County park. We had come here last season but saw there was a geocache we hadn’t gotten last year. It was a nice hike in the woods so it was worthy of a return trip. Since last time we were here, they have now installed a gravel parking lot that holds a dozen vehicles. Previously we needed to park along the road and hike in. It was a nice 3.5 mile walk and we hit some of the trails we didn’t get to last year. The preserve has a mixture of woods, swamp, and sandy, dune-like terrain. At one point we spotted an otter running in the forest from one small pond to another one. That’s the second time we have seen one running and this one was a fast runner as well. As we got back near the parking lot, a hawk of some sort landed in a tree overhead.

Boardwalk Over Wet Area

Green Pond

Sandy Area of Trail

Hawk?

When we had visited Lake Apopka in early January to do the 11 mile wildlife drive, we thought that this might be a great place to come back with our bicycles. We were talking with our neighbors in the campground and mentioned we were going to go back to try biking the roads of the North Shore of Lake Apopka. They questioned our wisdom since we had told them we had seen dozens of alligators along the drive and spotted the biggest gator we’ve ever seen when we were there last time. We decided to not heed their advice and started to make plans for the trip. We figured we should go during the week when the gates are closed. This would eliminate the possibility of having vehicular traffic. Rather than starting at the east side of the lake where the wildlife drive starts, we could go to the Green Mountain entrance on the west side of the lake. This would shorten the drive to just over an hour and get us to a different portion of the park. 

The Lake Apopka Trail goes between Magnolia Park on the east side of the lake and the Green Mountain entrance on the west. The full route is 17.4 miles each way which is much longer than we want to attempt. Since there are lots of access roads along the north shore of the lake, I was sure to generate a track that had the desired route on our Garmins so we wouldn’t get lost. We didn’t have a particular destination in mind for the ride but wanted to ride as far as possible and still make it back to the car. I knew it is a little over 13 miles from Green Mountain to the Historic Pump House and hoped we could make it that far. 

We head off early on a Thursday morning and have no issues getting to the Green Mountain entrance. In my mind, I was envisioning a small gravel parking lot hopefully with a port-a-potty available. So when we arrived to find a paved road and parking lot able to hold a dozen cars with a picnic shelter and a nice restroom building, we were surprised. Just a short distance from the parking area is a large observation tower. We stop here to take a look at the view before continuing. It wasn’t a spectacular view but probably worth the stop. Calling this place a mountain is just a bit of an overstatement, but we do need to drop about 150 feet in elevation to get down to the main gravel roads we will spend the bulk of our time riding. There are 5 switchbacks along the way and since the trail is loose gravel, care must be taken to not slide and fall before we really get started.

Observation Tower Near Trailhead

Gravel Switchback

The first 2 miles of the ride were much more pleasant than we thought. It is fairly wooded so we enjoy the shade while it lasts. Once we get to the main gravel roads of the north shore, it is perfectly flat. There are numerous man made canals that we are riding next to. I keep a close eye out for gators since our experience had been there are lots of them around. 

Wooded Portion of Trail

Canal

As we near the 4 mile mark, we see a freestanding observation tower and it’s only a hundred feet off the road so we feel obliged to check it out. From this vantage point, it’s a little easier to see the canals. They are not all that wide - 30 feet or so - and they repeat ever couple hundred feet. It’s not clear if these are a remnant of the days this land was farmed or whether they were created to help with the water purification effort that has been ongoing here for several decades. We did see a truck with a trailer off in the distance that was probably some work crew. A solo bicyclist went by while we were up top.

Approaching Tower

View of Canals

View of Direction We Came From

Heading This Way Next

Not far from the tower were two large plastic tanks. Based on the labels, they contain aluminum sulfate which is used to help restore the damage from pesticides and fertilizers used in the 1940’s. There was some sort of tubing extending from the tanks over the water in the canals. We will see several other similar setups along the drive. Each one has an out of place US Mail box on a post which likely holds some logbooks for workers to keep track of tank levels? There was also a large pump station less than a mile from the tower. It looks like there are 5 pumps and at least one of them was running based on the sound they made.

Aluminum Sulfate Delivery System

Pump Station

The next portion of the road goes along an even wider canal. It looked like this canal actually connects to the lake and had a couple guys on a “bass boat” fishing. As we went by, the one guy either had a fish on his line or was snagged in some weeds. We kept moving so we didn’t find out which. About 1.5 miles from the 5 pumps was a hard right hand turn up and over a bridge to get across the canal. There was a decent view from bridge and it was about the only elevation change on the bike ride once we got down from Green Mountain. 

Adjacent to Large Canal

Coming Up on Bridge

View from Bridge

As we continue on the trail, we cross over from Lake county to Orange county and shortly after that (the 9 mile point from the start) is a picnic table and shelter. We figure this might be our best chance to actually sit for lunch so we took advantage of it. There were plenty of signs about not feeding the alligators. We’ve done lots of hikes where our lunch stop included chipmunks approaching us to beg for food. All I could envision was a gator seeing us eating and coming over for a snack. We only saw a few turtles across a small pond, no gators pestered us.

Our Lunch Stop Shelter

At about the 12 mile mark, we stopped for a break to check out the view. Chris decided that if she wanted to make it back to the car, she should turn around now. I was free to keep going as long as I promised to turn back and catch up with her.

Looking South at Lake Apopka

I simply wanted to make it to the Historic Pump House so I could have the bike ride get to a spot we had been along the wildlife drive. It was much quieter here since the vehicular gates were closed. I only spotted one other cyclist heading back along the wildlife drive to the east. The bike ride was 13.3 miles to this point and I definitely needed to turn around if I too hoped to make it back to the car. 

Coming Up to Historic Pump House

View of Pond at Pump House

I set off as fast as I could trying to see how quickly I could catch up with Chris. I had given her about a two and a half mile head start, so I knew it would take me some time to make that up. There are plenty of straight sections of road and at one point I thought I saw a cyclist well in advance. That gave me the motivation to push on. Of course it turned out to not be Chris. As I got to the bridge over the canal, I could see another rider off ahead and a after my riding 10 miles, I caught up with her. Back near the 5 pumps was a gator laying on the side of the pond. It took us riding just over 20 miles before we saw our first gator and we had been expecting to see dozens of them.

Another Lake View

First Gator Sighting of Ride

On the way back, we took a short detour to check out a possible geocache. It brought us to another observation tower along the Clay Island trail. We decided that the other locations we needed to visit to find the cache were on trails better suited for hiking instead of biking. We took advantage of the shade of the tower for a snack and to check out the view. As I walked over to the canal for a closer look, there was a huge splash. I suspect I startled the gator almost as much as it did me. The bike ride back up the gravel switchbacks was a little bit of a challenge especially after a 27 mile ride but we made it. This was a fun way to explore the north shore of Lake Apopka and it might be interesting to bike some of the many roads that are just off the main trail.

Another Observation Tower

View from Tower