Seacrest Scrub Natural Area

There was an hour before sunset and this park was only a few miles away. I'm still learning the area where I live but I saw a little brown sign on my way home today and my destination was set. I pulled into the Seacrest Scrub Natural Area with time on my hands.


The first 0.17 miles of the trail is wheelchair accessible. They call this the Gopher Tortoise Nature Trail. The Gray Catbirds were everywhere in the scrub. Seacrest Scrub Natural Area is a 54-acre preserve. Purchased in the early 1990's, this area was partially used as a pineapple farm but there are some intact natural scrub areas within the park.

Most scrub ridges are high elevation lands with mostly smallish scrub plants. This tract of land has a multitude of Florida Slash Pine due to the previous agricultural use. But it is also covered with Sand Pines, Myrtle Oak and Sand Live Oak.

If you're looking for solitude in Palm Beach County these Natural Areas seem to be the place to go. None of the parks I've explored so far are very big but they are mostly deserted, giving you a real sense of adventure in an overcrowded county. When I saw this tree above I was in love. I don't know why but I find it beautiful, especially in the evening light.

As you follow the path it becomes more and more narrow. The yellow blazes signify that you're on the Sand Pine Hiking Trail which is about 3/4 a mile long. It's a nice short afternoon stroll. Next time I may bring my bike since most of the trail was fairly compact. If you've done much hiking in South Florida you know that this is rare. Most trails are loose white sand and quite a few cover old sand dunes, creating for a good workout on a bike.

The trail is a short loop. I found all kinds of interesting plant life and animal tracks. In a little grove of young slash pines I found the feathers above. It looks like a fairly recent kill, probably from yesterday. We had some torrential downpours and it caused all the feathers to stick together. I didn't see many birds on this trip but I heard plenty of Palm Warblers chipping and a few Fish Crows overhead.

It only took about 30 minutes to hike this park but I will go back. I loved the flowering scrub plants and the small little wonders of the trail. Whether it's Spiny Crab-like Spiders or Gopher Tortoises, this natural area is home to many types of wildlife and I'm glad to live in a county where preservation of these lands is important.