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Loop and Side Trails

North Florida Side Trails

Bella Vista Trail

Length: 1.7 mile loop

The trail is within Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, along A1A south of Marineland, north of Hammock, 12 miles north of Flagler Beach. Trailhead parking is on the right inside the park after you turn left onto old A1A. This is a gentle hiking loop, ideal for families, showcasing a broad variety of habitats in a short walk.

Overview

Coquina beach (Candace Hill) The Bella Vista Trail at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park explores a variety of habitats along this barrier island, where the Atlantic Ocean and the Matanzas River are both less than a half mile from the trail. The white blazes of the Timucuan Loop lead you through a shady maritime hammock of live oaks and southern magnolia, cabbage palms and cherry laurel, where you encounter wild coffee at the northern extent of its range.

The trail crosses Old A1A (shaded by a canopy of live oaks and now used as a bicycle path) before it rises up through the hammock to an oak scrub within the scent of the salt breeze of the ocean. Saw palmetto takes on a silvery blue hue from the salt in the air, and the prevailing sea breeze sculpts the branches of the sand live oaks. The area is open and desert-like.

Returning to the hammock, you pass a massive slash pine; coontie pokes up through drifts of leaves on the forest floor. Crossing Old A1A again, the trail continues along the remainder of the loop through dense forest along the Mantanzas River, with a side trail out to the mangrove fringe where you can watch for dolphins and manatees.

This historic park also offers a visitor center, formal gardens and a picnic area. Fishing is allowed on the seawall and at the beach. While you cannot swim at the beach, it’s well worth a beach walk-- it is one of Florida’s rare rocky shorelines, lined with orange-hued coquina rock, a sedimentary stone made up of colorful crushed coquina shells.

Map

N Bella Vista, Washington Oaks Gardens

In Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, along A1A south of Marineland, north of Hammock, 12 miles north of Flagler Beach.

Disclaimer: While FTA strives to maintain accurate information and is constantly updating its geodatabase, the trail and development along the trail corridor is constantly changing. The data has been collected from a variety of sources and accuracy varies. FTA provides this data for recreational purposes only and does not intend the data as a survey.

Centerline data Florida Trail System (c) 2007 Florida Trail Association, Inc.