North Woods Trails at Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens

pine scrub arboretum and gardens jacksonville florida

Volunteer at the Gardens

When we arrive at the Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens for another adventure, we find local lending hands on a crisp, cool Saturday morning. On the 2nd Saturday of every month, the park hosts Garden Volunteer Workday, when dozens of volunteers get up at the crack of dawn to give back to their community. Projects range from trimming trees and picking up debris to planting new flower beds. People show up shovel-in-hand to help preserve this beautiful space petitioned by civilians nearly 15 years ago. The public can enjoy frequent spring time events in the vast outdoor space near the park’s entrance. Visit the Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens website for more information.

Live Oak Trail

You can access the Live Oak Trail from Lake Loop Trail, the starting point for all the park’s main trailheads. The Live Oak Trail is a 0.5-mile loop that follows along a canopy of Darlington oaks, sand live oaks, and southern magnolia with an understory of cinnamon fern and saw palmettos. Be sure to check out the rhododendron in bloom!

The allure of twisting vines, red spotted moss, and sparkleberry takes us down a root formed stairway approaching the Sand Ridge trailhead.

Rhododendron at at arboretum and gardens jacksonville florida — Blooming Rhododendron

However, if you decide to stay course along the Live Oak Trail, you’ll meet a friendly woodland creature near a quiet seating area. Take in the fields of cinnamon fern, wiregrass, and giant turkey oaks wrapped in garlands of Spanish moss. Learn more about Florida’s native species by reading labels of many plants, flowers, and trees along your journey through the turkey oak barren back toward the park entrance.

Sand Ridge Trail

We continue our journey, crossing over a small wooden bridge to trek through the thickest woods of the Arboretum – the Sand Ridge Trail. Not for the faint of heart, this 1.0-mile loop trail is more arduous with its winding hills and protruding roots. At the start of the loop, we encounter black willow, a tree used to make aspirin. A narrow path of leaves carries us deeper into a winding forest of longleaf pines and wax myrtle, an evergreen shrub once used to expedite childbirth and now is commonly found in home gardens.

The breeze blows as more leaves flutter down through the canopy ceiling as we traverse a myriad of jagged myrtle oak and an understory of saw palmetto. The trail is almost like a maze, a bit difficult to navigate with the temptation of spur trails along the way, such as the Deer Moss connector.

Rusty Lyonia at at arboretum and gardens jacksonville florida — Rusty Lyonia

Up and down we go into a more mature forest with giant live oaks draped in sleepy Spanish moss. This scrub habitat is considered a xeric hammock, which consists of a dwarf understory of sand live oak, myrtle oak, and laurel oak. The shrub thrives with rusty lyonia, sparkleberry, and dense stands of saw palmetto. Reindeer moss covers the path, which is called lichen, and offers a symbiotic relationship between an algae and fungus.

We arrive at the gate of a thick longleaf pine which guards a sodden, soggy area of sawgrass and southern red cedar. Keep left to the fields of cinnamon and bracken fern. The red spotted moss is legible like a trail marker along the sandy uphill path.

Estuarine Marsh at at arboretum and gardens jacksonville florida — Estuarine Marsh

After a short hike, the northeastern trail approaches Mill Cove and clears to wide open views of the estuarine marsh, a low tidal mixture of fresh and salt water. We pause for a moment in the tidal breeze amid the cord grass and black needle rush.

Back on the scrubby flatwood trail, we step around prickly pear cactus through an understory of wiregrass and wild flowers. The path transforms into thick clusters of pond pines, longleaf pines, and slash pines, the three species commonly found along the Sand Ridge Trail.

pines at arboretum and gardens jacksonville florida — Pond, Longleaf and Splash Pines

Other points of interest along Sand Ridge Trail include Pine Scrub Loop, Rosemary Scrub Loop (no dogs allowed), and the depression marsh lookout. Keep in mind, many of the plants at Jacksonville Arboretum are deciduous (which means they shed leaves seasonally).

Trail Systems

Lake Loop Trail – 0.3 miles
*South Woods Trails:
- Jones Creek Trail - 0.3 miles
- Aralia Trail - 0.3 miles
- Upper Ravine Trail - 0.2 miles
- Lower Ravine Trail - 0.1 miles
*frequent flooding after rain
North Woods Trails:
- Live Oak Trail - 0.5 miles
- Sand Ridge Trail - 1.0 miles
- Rosemary Scrub Vista (no dogs allowed)