Jonathan DickinsonKitching Creek Nature Trail |
Brochure of Kitching Creek Nature Trail in Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Florida - One of Florida’s larges and most diverse state parks. Published by Florida State Parks.
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KITCHING CREEK NATURE TRAIL
JONATHAN DICKINSON STATE PARK
W
e invite you to walk this 1.25 mile trail loop
and enjoy the variety of plant and animal life found
along the way. The trail winds westward from here
through low pine flatwoods and along a tributary of the
Loxahatchee River.
The points of interest along the trail are numbered
and are described by the numbered paragraphs in this
booklet. Please be considerate of the people who are to
follow, and do not remove or leave anything.
6. Cypress - The buttressed, furrowed trunk of the bald
cypress rises out of the water and muck of this small creek.
The flaring base spreads out like a skirt giving the tree a
lower center of gravity. This helps to balance its great height
which commonly reaches 50-75 feet and sometimes as high
as 100 feet. The tree has cones but is not an evergreen. It
drops its needles each year during the dry season. This
makes it look dead. However, when the rains return in the
spring, the new feathery needles color the cypress forest a
bluish-green.
7. Flowers - Numerous flowering plants grow in the
pinelands. The wildflowers of this area change almost from
week-to-week and provide the park with one of nature’s best
color shows. Look for something special, such as one of the
pink ground orchids, the yellow St. John’s wort or the white
tarflower.
1. Change - Sometimes we view nature as being
permanent and unchanging, although we know that
changes are taking place. The mountains, seas and
forests show very little alteration other than from season
to season. However, mountains erode to become hills,
and lakes may gradually fill in and become dry land.
What changes are taking place in these woodlands?
Overlook
Kitching
Creek
Scan below for
Kitching Creek
Brochure
2. Fire - This old, charred stump shows us a form of
9. Slash Pine - Notice the pleasant smell of pine needles
and resin, the quiet whisper of the wind through the
branches and the cool shade created by the tall pines. The
south Florida slash pine is found nowhere else in the world
except the southern part of Florida. In the days before this
was a park, the early settlers sought out the hard,
termite-resistant wood of these pines for their homes. As
you walk the trails, give yourself time to imagine their view
of a continuous forest of century-old virgin pines over two
feet in diameter and over 90 feet tall.
10. Hard Living - Imagine yourself as an early pioneer
in this environment. Early settlers had to be both physically
and mentally hardy. Many cleared the land by hand to grow
crops. They labored long hours under harsh conditions
without benefit of heavy equipment.
flatwoods area before you is wire grass. This grass was
named for its blades which look and feel like fine wire.
When flowering, the seed head of the plant has a
wheat-like appearance. The plant is fire-dependent,
flowering best if burned during the wet season (AprilSeptember). It is a common food of the gopher tortoise.
Kitching Creek-Wilson Creek
Nature Trails
3. Saw palmetto - The most abundant plant in this
area is the saw palmetto. In some places it grows so
thick that it is nearly impossible to walk through. This
plant’s name comes from the saw-like teeth along the
leaf stalks. The upper part of the plant will burn in a
forest fire, but it is very fire resistant and is seldom killed.
12. Dead Tree - Along the trail, you probably noticed
4. Jonathan Dickinson - The fruits of the saw
service
road
Wilson Creek
loop
Wilson
Creek
5. Pine Flatwoods - This plant community occurs
where the ground is so flat that there is little drainage of
water off the land or into the soil after it rains. The most
common tree in this community is the slash pine. Under
the pines, you will notice a lower growth of plants that
includes saw palmetto, gallberry and wax myrtle.
water, everything seems to have its place - St. John’s wort
in the wetter areas, a ring of saw palmettos around the wet
prairie and slash pine on higher ground. However, drainage
of the land around the park has lowered the water table that
sustained what used to be wet areas. This is but one more
example of how natural systems do not recognized the
“artificial” boundaries created by man.
11. Wire Grass - The most abundant grass in the
change which has been a way of life here for thousands
of years. The story of fire is almost as important as the
story of water in south Florida. Both plants and animals
have found different ways to live with the changes
caused by fire and water.
palmetto are edible and were an important food for
Native Americans. In 1696, Jonathan Dickinson was
shipwrecked on Jupiter Island, less than five miles from
here. He reported that the Jaegas, a local Indian tribe, ate
the berries of the palmetto. After tasting these fruits, he
commented “they tasted like rotten cheese steeped in
tobacco juice.” Hungry anyone?
8. Change in the order - At the boundary of land and
Start
Parking
Lot
several dead and decaying pine trees. These “snags” are
not cleared from the park because they are very useful to
wildlife. Snags may serve as homes for squirrels, insects
and raccoons or provide food for woodpeckers and other
birds that eat wood-boring insects. When dead trees fall to
the ground and decay, they return nutrients to the soil. This
process of change is essential to the life of the
forest.
13. Kitching Creek - About 1886, the Kitching family
bought land around this creek from the State of Florida for
$1.25 an acre. Born in England, Walter Kitching was the
first of the family to visit the area in 1882. He later set up a
trade boat business between Titusville and Jupiter. At the
time, travel in south Florida was generally restricted to the
water. Kitching would travel by boat to the riverfront
homes of settlers with his merchandise of clothing, shoes,
groceries, medicine and kerosene. Ironically, it was
probably his sister living in England who bought the land
without ever having seen Florida.
14. Strand - Kitching Creek is called a cypress
“strand.” A strand is a long narrow band of trees that
follows a natural shallow water drainage system.
Unfortunately, some of the cypress trees were cut for
lumber from 1940 to 1941. However, the area is still a
valuable remnant of a unique environment that lies
largely within the boundaries of the park.
15. Landscaping By Fire - Views, such as the one
before you, would eventually change if fire was excluded
from this pineland. Many more oaks and hardwoods
would appear and the pines would gradually disappear.
16. Cabbage palm - There is no mistake that the trees
by the river are “The State Tree of Florida.” However,
when young they are often confused with the similar saw
palmetto - like the ones in front of you. The palm’s name
is derived from the cabbage-like heart which was used to
make a tasty “swamp cabbage.” While a delicacy for
humans, this practice is fatal to the tree. Even after a
raging forest fire, palms will usually survive because their
buds are protected by the base of the fronds.
17. Listen - By the time you reach this point, you may
have heard many insect sounds, birds singing or the
drumming of a woodpecker. A rustling noise in the bushes
or dry leaves could have been caused by a lizard or a
bobwhite. At night, opossum, raccoons, deer and bobcat
may also be seen in this area.
18. Fire and Pines - Because wildfires are very
destructive and can kill the tall pines, Park Rangers
prescribe burn the ground fuels of dead leaves and grasses
every three to five years. These prescribed fires are not
harmful to the pines. They reduce the danger of a wildfire
which could threaten park visitors and wildlife.
19. Gallberry - The shrub having a few teeth on each
side of its leaves is called gallberry, a member of the holly
family. Instead of having red berries, it has black berries.
Like most holly plants, its fruits are not edible. The shrub
is abundant in the pine woods since its underground roots
are not damaged by fire and the plant quickly recovers.
Settlers used the gallberry bushes to make yard brooms. It
was also used in a “sweeping motion” when applied to the
rear end of disobedient children!
20. Dead Cypress - In the distance, the dead cypress
trees tell of changes man has brought to this area. The
Loxahatchee River’s historical water flow has been
changed by roads, damming and channeling occurring in
the headwater areas. This leaves little fresh water to hold
back the salt water from flowing upstream and killing the
cypress trees close to the river.
21. Fetterbush - This area abound with fetterbush,
scrub oak, saw palmetto, tarflower and rusty lyonia. Can
you imagine trying to walk through such a tangle of
vegetation? Maybe that was why early settlers called many
of these plants “fetter bushes.” (Fetter means to restrain.)
Over the years, however, this name has come to denote
just one type of plant.
22. Ferns at Wilson Creek - Although Florida has
been called the “Land of Flowers”, it could just as easily
have been called the “Land of Ferns.” More kinds of ferns
are found in Florida than in any other state. Here in the
water and growing close to the edge of the creek, we see
several types of ferns. The tallest is the leather fern with
royal fern growing to your left. Behind you is a native
swamp fern and an “exotic” (non-native) climbing fern
called Lygodium.
23. Turkey Oak - Usually growing to a height of 20 to
30 feet, the turkey oak is one of the most common oaks
found with pines in dry, sandy soils. It is interesting that
even growing at the warm southern end of its range, it still
undergoes its characteristic dropping of leaves in the fall.
Many of the tropical trees of south Florida also drop their
leaves. However, it is usually done more gradually and
usually in response to a prolonged dry season.
24. Recent History - During World War II, the
government created Camp Murphy, home of the Southern
Signal Corps School, serving as a U.S. Army base for
instruction in radar operations. In 1944, Camp Murphy
was deactivated, and in 1947, it was acquired for a state
park.
25. Trail’s End - As you leave the Kitching Creek
Nature Trail, stop and think about the many changes that
have occurred in this pineland. Seed by seed and plant by
plant, you can come to understand that your next walk
along this trail will never be the same; but it can provide a
feeling of returning discovery.
You may keep this brochure or return it
to the box for use by another visitor.
If you have any questions, please contact the
Ranger Station at (772) 546-2771.
Revised 05/2016
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Division of Recreation and Parks
KITCHING CREEK NATURE TRAIL
JONATHAN DICKINSON STATE PARK