Fall Trips
We tend to associate springtime with wildflower blooming, but fall also has a brilliant and showy season of its own. Listed below are some good places to go to see wildflowers blooming in North Florida. (Photographs copyright 1998, Eleanor Dietrich.)
St. Marks Wildlife Refuge There are many trails here, full of a variety of wildflowers. The Refuge is about 20 miles south of Tallahassee.
St. George Island State Park The Purple Muhly Grass forms large masses on the bay side, and Beach Morning Glory is on the dunes. There are also two kinds of Goldenrod found most frequently in sandy locations. This park is about 80 miles southwest of Tallahassee, off U.S. 98.
Ochlockonee River State Park This park has a piney woods trail full 
of wildflowers like Blazing Star, Goldenrod, and Black-eyed Susans; in late summer it has a large number of the spectacular orange Pine Lilies. The park is 42 miles south of Tallahassee off U.S. 319, about 4.5 miles beyond Sopchoppy.
Apalachicola National Forest This is one of my favorite places to visit, all year around (except for hunting season!). If you want to explore this area regularly, good maps are available (call 850-942-9307 for information on how to get one). If you take S.R. 20 west out of Tallahassee to Hosford and turn south on S.R. 65, it will take you on a great road for flower viewing. If you want to venture down some of the dirt roads in the forest, roads 180 and 143 are recommended as good places.
Birdsong Nature Center This wonderful site of 500 acres is being managed to promote both plant and animal wildlife,including the use of control burning. Agalinis loves the fields out there, and in a recently burned field, Blazing Star came up so thickly it formed deep carpets of purple. The Center is located about 25 miles north of Tallahassee, 4 miles over the Georgia border on the Meridian Road.
Suwannee River State Park The Sandhills Trail in this park offers some wildflowers not commonly seen, including the White Topped Aster and Bur Marigold. It has been burned, and the flowers are responding accordingly with lots of Blazing Star, Golden Asters, and White Eupatorium. The park is located off U.S. 90, about 65 west of Tallahassee.
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