Really Florida!

Hungryland Slough at J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area in South Florida is like going back in time. With all the water stealthily flowing around them, the cypress trees lift their eerie branches to the sky. Climbing vines clamber up pines, while all kinds of epiphytes hang tight to their branches. Or wherever.

Almost makes you think “Jurrasic Park” and not “West Palm Beach”.

Fortunately Hungryland Slough has a boardwalk where you can safely wander back in the wilds. The boardwalk crosses over shallow waters and what appeared to be game trails. Trees, vines, air plants — they all crowd around, sometimes closer, sometimes farther away.

The boardwalk is about a mile long, in somewhat of a loop. It’s quiet, peaceful and there are all kinds of things to see. Whether you like birds, flowers, epiphytes or just plain taking a stroll on an unusual trail, you’re bound to find something interesting.

But there’s a catch (you knew there would be, right). And it’s this — to get to the boardwalk (where it’s high, dry and level), you have to cross some ground that isn’t high, dry or level. Not a lot, mind you, but it’s no place for anyone who is unsteady on their feet.

The trail leading up to the boardwalk was somewhat uneven, due to the antics of the feral hogs — they had dug up a lot of the area around and sometimes onto the trail. And since it had rained a few days before, that dug-up area was pretty muddy. Not to mention slippery.

We didn’t have to wade through any water, but it was also Winter — our dry season. I wouldn’t encourage you to visit during the rainy season — if the mosquitoes don’t fly off with you, it will only be because you’re stuck in the mud!

It may sound like these are reasons to not visit J.W. Corbett’s Hungryland Slough boardwalk — not so. It’s a piece of Florida wilderness that hasn’t been trampled by developers, and therefore is precious. It’s also a bit of a hike to get to the boardwalk. Then again, isn’t that why we go to the Florida State Parks? To leave civilization behind, even if only for an hour or two, and experience natural Florida.

I’ll leave you with another photo taken on the boardwalk, this time of some interesting-looking mosses. It just goes to show you that all kinds of plants live here. So don’t just gaze up into the greeny-blue of the cypress trees, or at the vines scaling the tallest pines; look down at your feet as well, for all kinds of other fascinating forms of life.

J.W. Corbett and Hungryland Slough. They aren’t your typical Florida, for sure. But they are naturally Florida.