St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge
Posted By auntie on February 19, 2018
6 miles; Franklin County, FL
St. Vincent NWR is an entire 12-mile-long island off the coast of the Florida Panhandle. This was not the only hike I’ve ever needed a boat to get to (Block Island being the other), but this trip was a heck of a lot quicker. This National Wildlife Refuge is home to all sorts of wildlife I didn’t get t see, including endangered Red Wolves and Sambal Deer. And probably alligators. I’m to the point now where I both really want to see one and really, really don’t want to see one. This results in my walking by marshes and swamps very quickly doing the “side eye” thing.
St. Vincent Shuttle
It’s not a long ride—that’s St. Vincent in the background. At 8:45 a.m., I was shuttled over, along with a family of 4, and told to be back at the dock no later than noon or I’d have to spend the night. I think he was kidding.
Dew-bedecked Spider Web
The island of St. Vincent is about 12 miles long by 4 or 5 miles wide at its widest point, and is, as is usual for forests in Florida, criss-crossed with logging roads. I am told there is about 80-90 miles worth of roads/trails on the island. I got to about 3 and had to turn around. I think, without a private boat or kayak, the best way to see this place would be with a mountain bike.
Typical Panhandle Woodland
It is a typical Florida park, in that the National Wildlife Service does periodic burns to keep the underbrush at bay and encourage pine seed that needs fire to germinate. As a result, there are the usual tall longleaf pines with the usual saw palmetto underbrush.
Road 1
I made my first mistake by heading out Road 0, which, eventually, took a hard left into a swamp. No, nope, n’uh uh, not me, not traversing a swamp on a wildlife refuge. So I had to backtrack to where Road 1 crossed, and then took that to the beach.
Bubbles
There’s something magical about being the only human in sight on a 12-mile-long beach. It’s amazing.
Hiking Companions
That’s not to say I was all alone. This little flock of willets hiked along with me for probably half a mile.
Road B
After following the beach for a mile, I turned back inland on Road 2. The numbered roads are approximately 1 mile apart, and except for Road 0, cross the island from north-ish to south-ish. I eventually came to Road B (the lettered roads cross the island lengthwise, perpendicular to the numbered roads), and took Road B back to the dock. It was pretty much straight and boring. Not all the roads on the island are like this. Road 0, for example, is basically just a firebreak, and not very heavily travelled.
Four-Petal St. John’s Wort, Hypericum tetrapetalum
As I travelled Road B, I noticed this pretty yellow wildflower. “Hm,” I thought to myself. “That looks like St. John’s Wort, but St. John’s Wort has 5 petals, so it can’t be.” Wrong again. It’s 4-petalled St. John’s Wort, and is only found in a few counties on the Florida Panhandle.
You can find out more about St. Vincent NWR here, at the Federal Wildlife Service website. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.
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