News

Four Creeks State Forest open

Jennifer Hart, forester, showed me around both the north and south sections of Four Creeks State Forest not long ago. The south entrance, second of two designated vehicular accesses into the new Four Creeks State Forest near Callahan, opened July 17th. Visitors can now access both the north's 5,000 and the south side's 8,000 acre sections.

A PRETTY SPOT - Jenn Hart stands near a natural boat ramp on Boggy Creek. She said that an alligator had been seen there - but, luckily, we didn't see it. Hart graduated from Cocoa High School in 1998 and from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2004. She has been involved in the outdoors all her life and was seeking a major in Wildlife when she "stumbled into forestry" by taking an elective. Jenn has worked in the Four Creek area for the past 2 ½ years.

First to open, the north entrance may be accessed directly from Florida A1A, 4 miles east of Callahan and 5 miles west of Interstate 95. The south entrance may be reached by Pacetti Road off of Bismark Road in Callahan. Pacetti becomes Five Mile Road at the Four Creeks State Forest entrance.

Some of Bismark and all of Pacetti are unpaved and become very difficult for two-wheel drive vehicles in rainy weather. Jennifer had me leave my van at the south entrance and we used a 4-wheel drive truck for our tour because of the wet road conditions. We did the same on the north portion of our tour.

While some of the Forest's 24 miles of roads have been reworked by laying geo-fabric and putting lime rock on top of that, there were sections of unimproved road where even the 4-wheel drive had trouble getting through. The geo-fabric prevents the lime rock from sinking into the sand and helps make two-wheel drive possible, even under the wet conditions.

"Two sections have been reworked so far at a total cost of nearly $130,000. Eventually," Hart said, "we would like all the roads within the park to get this treatment." While, at first look, several homes on the left side of the road appear to be located within the Forest, none are actually on the property.

Strangely enough, some sections remain difficult even during dry weather due to sand. Hay placed on the roadway improves traction and also provides a bit of a treat for Forest animals

There are several natural boat landings on the four creeks which transverse the Forest. These

NATURAL RAMP - There aren't any plans to build boat ramps in the Forest but natural ones, such as this one on Boggy Creek, will be maintained.

creeks: Alligator (Mills), Thomas, Boggy and Plummer, form the headwaters of the Nassau River. They connect into Nassau Sound south of Amelia Island thus the creeks have tidal activity. There may also be alligators.

This very pretty spot on Boggy Creek has a "natural" primitive boat ramp. Kayaks and canoes may be used on most of the creeks and there are also some areas where Jon Boats or other small powered boats will be allowed.

Hart said the Division of Forestry does not plan to build boat ramps but would take advantage of "natural" ones, making sure they remain usable. Similarly, they do not intend building new roads but will improve existing ones to make access easier. They plan to install picnic tables within the next month or so. They're already on hand.

Fishing is allowed in the Forest with no special permit but hunting, which requires both a license and a Forest permit, may only be done during established seasons.

While neither motorcycles nor ATV's are allowed, horses are. They must have proof of a negative Coggins test which relates to Equine Infectious Anemia). Horse and hiking trails are also

CAMP CONSEQUENCE - This historic cabin is currently being used as part of Camp Consequence, a program intended to help empower parents.

being planned.

No cabins are planned but camping areas will be provided. There is an historical cabin located near the intersection of Four Creek and Cabin Roads which is currently part of Camp Consequence (http://ihelpparents.com/).

State Forests also help support themselves through logging. Fifteen percent of logging proceeds are returned to the county in which the Forest is located.