The San Felasco hiking trailhead, located on Millhopper Road, offers about 13 miles trails for nature viewing, hiking and trail running.Color markers are used to distinguish each trail. Dogs on a hand-held 6-foot leash are welcome. No bicycles or horses are allowed on these trails.
Hiking Trails
Moonshine Creek Trail
Moonshine Creek is formed from a series of seeps north of Millhopper Road. The creek meanders through a ravine before draining into the aquifer through a swallow at its southern end. The creek was named during the prohibition where it become the site of a moonshine still providing illegal alcohol to citizens of Alachua County.
The trail is approximately one mile long and begins by passing through sunny pine forests dominated by turkey oak, slash pine, spruce pine, and wiregrass. As you enter the raving the trail changes dramatically. The canopy turns to slash, loblolly, and spruce pines, oaks, hickories, gums, and magnolia. Spotted throughout are sink holes. This is a wonderful example of a mesic mixed hardwood forest.
Creek Sink Trail
The start of Creek Sink Trail is halfway through the Moonshine Creek Trail. Taking this trail will increase your hike to 2.3 miles. This trail goes around the swamps and bottomland forest where the waters of the creek, at the southernmost part of the trail, are absorbed into the underlying aquifer.
Spring Grove Trail
This 5.8 mile trail will take you through shady hammocks, pinelands, and sandhills. Along the way you will see both dry and water filled sinkholes. This trail is named after the town of Spring Grove, which in the early 1800’s was the county seat of Alachua County. The actual site of Spring Grove is no longer known, but it is thought to have been located somewhere in this area. The Hammock cutoff (green blazes) shortens the trail to 2.8 miles. The Sandhills cutoff (red blazes) shortens the trail to 5.4 miles. Hiking counter-clockwise, a spur trail exists toward the end of the trail offering a brief change in scenery.
Old Spanish Way
This 4.8 mile trail will take you through sandy hammocks, pinelands, and flatwoods. You will see many sinkholes and ponds and will pass through an area of pineland that’s currently being restored to its natural condition after being devastated by a southern pine beetle infestation several years ago. This trail is named for a 17th century spanish mission, San Francisco de Potano, the site of which is located in the eastern section of San Felasco Hammock. A bench overlooking a pond resides along the trail, providing hikers a shaded spot to rest during their trek.