Osceola National Forest

Osceola National Forest


Location	Florida, United States
Nearest city	Olustee, FL
Coordinates	30°17′26″N 82°19′18″W / 30.29056°N 82.32167°W / 30.29056; -82.32167
Area	190,932 acres (772.67 km²)
Max. elevation	198 ft. (60 m): 30.1910, -82.5915
Established	July 10, 1931
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service
Website	Osceola National Forest

Highway sign warning drivers to watch for bears crossing Interstate 10 through the Osceola National Forest

Osceola National Forest is a National Forest located in northeast Florida.

Osceola National Forest was created by President Herbert Hoover's proclamation on July 10, 1931. It is named in honor of the noted Seminole warrior, Osceola.

The forest is made up of approximately 200,000 acres (810 km²) of pine flatwoods and cypress-hardwood swamps in northeastern Florida, and is about 50 miles (80 km) west of Jacksonville. It is located in parts of Columbia, Baker, Bradford, and Hamilton counties.^[1] The forest administration headquarters are in Tallahassee, as are all three National Forests in Florida. Local ranger district offices are located in Olustee. There is one officially designated wilderness area in the forest, the 13,660 acres (55.3 km²) Big Gum Swamp Wilderness.

Geography and ecology

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Within the forest is the Osceola Research Natural Area, designated a National Natural Landmark in December 1974.^[2]^[3]

Osceola National Forest is home to many birds as well as mammalian and reptilian species, including the alligator, eastern indigo snake, two species of skunk, muskrat, black bear, coyote, raccoon, gopher tortoise, bobcat, two species of fox, opossum, cougar, fox squirrel, and red-cockaded woodpecker an endangered species.

Activities

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A 28-mile (45 km) section of the Florida National Scenic Trail is included in the park grounds. Other hiking trails in the park include: Olustee Battlefield Trail (an American Civil War battlefield), Trampled Track Trail, and Mt. Carrie Trail. Two horseback riding trails pass through open pine flatwoods and near scenic bays. The park is also open to hunters and fishermen with permits.

Campsites

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Ocean Pond Campground - Ocean Pond Campground is located on the north side of Ocean Pond, a 1,760-acre (7.1 km²) natural lake. Sixty-seven campsites are available for tents, trailers, or motor homes. Ocean Pond provides a variety of recreational experiences such as fishing, boating, water skiing and camping. A beach area, boat ramp, drinking water, hot showers, and flush toilets are located in the campground.
The Landing Group Area - Available by reservation only, this is a 50-person private group area. Recreational activities include swimming, boating, camping, and picnicking. Facilities include a sand beach, boat launch for small boats, picnic shelter, large group grill, and restrooms with showers.
Hunt Camps - Hunt camps include Hog Pen Landing, Cobb, Wiggins, West Tower, and East Tower. These are primitive camp sites.

References

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^ Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County - United States Forest Service - September 30, 2007
^ Osceola Research Natural Area - National Natural Landmark
^ Nelson, Gil (1995). Exploring Wild North Florida. Pineapple Press Inc. p. 244. ISBN 1-56164-091-3. OCLC 32746332.

External links

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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Osceola National Forest.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Osceola National Forest.

Osceola National Forest official site at United States Forest Service
Florida National Scenic Trail
Great Florida Birding Trail
Ocean Pond Campground - official site at Osceola National Forest
The Group Landing - official site at Osceola National Forest
Hog Pen Landing - official site at Osceola National Forest
Cobb Hunt Camp - official site at Osceola National Forest
Wiggins Hunt Camp - official site at Osceola National Forest
West Tower Hunt Camp - official site at Osceola National Forest
East Tower Hunt Camp - official site at Osceola National Forest

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Marine Sanctuaries	Florida Keys Key Largo (1975–1990) Looe Key (1981–1990)
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Apalachicola NERR Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Price's Scrub Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Marks River St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Addison Blockhouse Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Boyd Hill Gumbo Limbo Moccasin Lake

v t e National Forests of the United States
List of national forests of the United States
Allegheny Angeles Angelina Apache–Sitgreaves Apalachicola Arapaho Ashley Beaverhead–Deerlodge Bienville Bighorn Bitterroot Black Hills Boise Bridger–Teton Caribou–Targhee Carson Chattahoochee–Oconee Chequamegon–Nicolet Cherokee Chippewa Choctawhatchee Chugach Cibola Clearwater Cleveland Coconino Coeur d'Alene Colville Conecuh Coronado Croatan Custer Daniel Boone Davy Crockett De Soto Delta Deschutes Dixie El Yunque Eldorado Finger Lakes Fishlake Flathead Francis Marion Fremont–Winema Gallatin George Washington and Jefferson Gifford Pinchot Gila Grand Mesa Green Mountain Gunnison Helena Hiawatha Holly Springs Homochitto Hoosier Humboldt–Toiyabe Huron–Manistee Idaho Panhandle Inyo Kaibab Kaniksu Kisatchie Klamath Kootenai Lake Tahoe Basin Lassen Lewis and Clark Lincoln Lolo Los Padres Malheur Manti–La Sal Mark Twain Medicine Bow–Routt Mendocino Modoc Monongahela Mount Baker–Snoqualmie Mount Hood Nantahala Nebraska Nez Perce Ocala Ochoco Okanogan–Wenatchee Olympic Osceola Ottawa Ouachita Ozark–St. Francis Payette Pike Pisgah Plumas Prescott Rio Grande Rogue River–Siskiyou Roosevelt Sabine Salmon–Challis Sam Houston Samuel R. McKelvie San Bernardino San Isabel San Juan Santa Fe Sawtooth Sequoia Shasta–Trinity Shawnee Shoshone Sierra Siuslaw Six Rivers St. Joe Stanislaus Sumter Superior Tahoe Talladega Tombigbee Tongass Tonto Tuskegee Uinta Umatilla Umpqua Uncompahgre Uwharrie Wallowa–Whitman Wasatch–Cache Wayne Wenatchee White Mountain White River Willamette William B. Bankhead
List of former national forests of the United States

Geography and ecology

Activities

Campsites

See also

References

External links