Crossing Florida: swamps and forests
The little steamship that carried Muir from Savannah and down the coast of Georgia reached the small port of Fernandina, in the extreme northeastern corner of Florida, on October 15, 186
Crossing Florida: swamps and forests
The little steamship that carried Muir from Savannah and down the coast of Georgia reached the small port of Fernandina, in the extreme northeastern corner of Florida, on October 15, 1867. There Muir “reached Florida, the so-called ‘Land of Flowers,’ that I had so long waited for ….” From the “rickety town” of Fernandina, and after buying some bread, he headed “for the shady, gloomy groves” and “started across the state by a gap hewn for the locomotive, walking sometimes between the rails, stepping from tie to tie, or walking on the strip of sand at the sides, gazing into the mysterious forest, Nature’s own.” He marveled at the vast, dense forests with the labyrinth of “armed vines” and especially noted the grand Magnolia Grandiflora with ferns and palmetto palms, along with occasional sandy ridges covered by longleaf and other pines. But after departing the comparatively easy railroad line, Muir walked on beyond in the wet swamps searching for rare and slightly drier hillocks on which to sleep. He marched on, cold and wet and without food: “Flowers and beauty I had in abundance, but no bread.”
It seems to me that Muir was less than inspired in his choice of route across Florida, in that it was a relatively direct transect that seemingly intentionally did not replicate the routes taken by earlier naturalist explorers that exposed them to many more highlights of Florida’s amazing biodiversity and natural wonders. Perhaps he was simply tired and determined to make “good time” across the northern Florida peninsula, with a vague idea that he would try to catch ship passage onward across the Gulf of Mexico and then on to Central and South America. It is not clear if Muir actually had a plan or by this time was simply following the most direct route he figured on his crude map and a vague notion of destination and purpose.
Assuming that you've entering Florida by road (likely via Interstate highway 95), from the bridge over the St. Marys River, which forms the Georgia/Florida states boundary, admire the vast marshes and bottomland forests. You can reach the city of Fernandina Beach, Florida, by departing Interstate 95 and heading east by US Hwy 17 and FL Hwy 200/ A1A. To reunite with Muir’s seaward route, after reaching the city of Fernandina Beach turn toward the northern end of Amelia Island (a barrier island) and visit the original port town of Old Fernandina, then go on to see the Spanish-settlement era fort site at Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park and the Civil War-era Fort Clinch State Park, both at the north end of the island (separated from the south end of Cumberland Island, Georgia, by the sound where the St. Marys River reaches the Atlantic Ocean). If you wish, linger a while longer on an Atlantic Ocean beach by driving south on this same island to visit Amelia Island State Park at the southern end of the island. In this area you will be transecting the East Coast Greenway, which is currently being assembled and is intended to connect as a trail for cyclers and hikers between cities from Maine to Florida.
Immediately after reaching the port of Fernandina, Muir seems to have taken a southwestern direction into the flatwoods and swamps of Florida. Occasionally along the way Muir would flounder upon some barbaric loggers or hunters who took pity on him, offered him rough food, and warned him of ubiquitous, dangerous alligators. Sometimes he would emerge from the wet swamps to enjoy the more open and drier “barrens, hummock … savannas” with their more scattered but maze-like expanses of trees, grasses, ferns, and palmettos.
You may approximate his route west from Fernandina by way of driving west on FL Hwy 200/A1A (called “The Buccaneer Trail” highway). If you wish to recreate Muir’s first path along a railroad line, you will find that Hwy 200A briefly follows a segment of the present Seaboard Coast - CSXT railroad line. You might park your vehicle and for some sense of Muir’s experience, walk a short way along the railroad bed, before returning to your vehicle and crossing intersections with US Hwy 17 and then Interstate 95 and continuing southwest on GA Hwy 200. There, on the south side of Hwy 200, you will find Florida’s Four Creeks State Forest, consisting of 11,000 acres of flatwoods, swamps, bays, and tidal marsh with abundant wildlife and offering miles of public trails or hiking, biking, horse riding, canoeing and camping. These natural communities and habitats again closely approximate what Muir would have seen.
In Callahan, Hwy 200 joins US Hwy 301, by which you continue on Muir’s most likely course