Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve - West Tract

October is a great wildflower month and while many have starting to peter-out, there was plenty to see. I stuck to the hard packed campground road and stayed high and dry. Tried one of the spurs to the hiking trails on the way back and found it still had some flooded parts, but was dry enough beside the trail to walk around those spots.

Saw a gopher tortoise, barred owl, lots of song birds, 4 hefty deer, and some bugs.

Very nice area with 2 primitive camp grounds and many hiking trails. Camp grounds and other areas do not have potable water so make sure to bring it. The Florida Trail runs through with hills and pine forests. There's a boy scout cabin as well on the river that you can get to. Lots of mosquitoes and horse flies year round, be prepared for that. Really a beautiful stretch of wilderness.

A place you can camp and trails . We camped out for three nights and it was peaceful.

Great place to take your MTB and explore around. Mostly gravel ( main trail ) and easy ride but there are several trails off the main one that are challenging because they are grassy, muddy and specially in the north side of the preserve is mostly sandy…🥵🥵. This preserve is huge and it would take a few rides to do it all. A MTB definitely but a hybrid will work too if you ride only on the main road. Lots of deer, turkeys, oaks, pine trees etc and by looking at the prints on the sand…..coyotes. I’m not an expert but i also saw some prints that looks that could be cat’s prints…maybe panthers 🐆? 🤔

Did the (white blazed) connector trail to the (orange blazed) Florida trail heading north, when the trail hit Ranch rd. we followed the unpaved road back to the car. It was a lovely little loop hike. Trails are well visible and blazed with clear directional signs. Easy hiking, some small elevation changes, some sandy spots. Saw 3 black racers, and a couple gopher turtles. Will be back for a longer trek.

We did a 3 day backpacking hike through this part of the Florida trail... Great experience. We walked the first day all the way to the second remote camp site. Start your day early if you can. Once we got there and set up camp, we were able to swim in the river and relax for a bit. The second day we back tracked to the first remote camping site and met some friendly strangers to camp with over night. My husband did get bit by a scorpion, so be on the lookout. They're not poisonous but those suckers hurt. The third day we made our way back our to the parking lot. I almost wasn't sure I'd make it out, but we did it! I'll always remember the experience.

True boondocks here. 3 spots deep in the woods, 2nif which are right on a small river. GPS took me to 98 which is wrong. The entrance is off of 471 .

Nice trails for bike riding. The Florida trail goes through this area for hiking. People riding horses. Picnic tables, grill, and the river not too far away.

Spent the night in our Fleetwood popup camper and found this campground to be a beautiful area. There were four other campers there but everyone was respectful of the other campers. We will definitely return!

Just discovered this diamond of a public resource. I camped at the Cumpressco campsite for 2 nights (essentially a dry camp site- port a potty and non potable water.) Withlacoochee River county park is .5 miles away if you need full hookup services. Only 3 of the 10 or so sites were occupied while I was there. Fellow campers were friendly and quiet. Owls, coyotes, and sandhill cranes put on quite a concert at night.

I was able to hike about 11 miles of the Florida Trail and about 25 miles of gravel roads. I can't wait to get back out there and explore more. I highly recommend this preserve, but hope you will keep the secret.

Great hiking. Beautiful camp sites. Overall, one of our favorite parks in Florida

Great hike along the Florida Trail. Good mix of dense vegetation and open field terrain. Abundant wildlife! Will Return!

This is a great area to hike and explore. Part of the Florida Trail runs through west tract.

Nice little camping spot maybe room for 25 just a pit toilet...the cost is free with a reservation

great park, loved the concessions back country camping sight!

Great area with a couple nice campgrounds. We stayed at the Ashely equestrian campground. Nice big sites, plenty of room for large rigs. Pit toilet in the campground as well. Lots of walking, biking, and horse trails.

Great hiking trails, picturesque primitive campsites. Well marked trails and signs.

Great place to go on a bicycle ride

Very pretty place to come and enjoy nature. Very peaceful and quiet.

Beautiful, peaceful hiking a ways in. Old roads make a long-ish entrance to truly lovely sections of the Florida Trail for hiking (hills to north!). These trail sections can be wet. I use the roads in, because connecting trails are rough. Hunting season here is now the best months of Winter (check with state web sites).