Hiking Black Creek Ravines Conservation Area, Clay County, Florida - Southern section

A little discovery hike on a beautiful low humidity day in mid May. I did part of the northern section on my outing last week. This outing is to scout the southern section of the conservation area. I have purchased a duplicate pedometer, which I now keep snapped to my pack's shoulder strap where I can't miss it :-) See: http://www.sjrwmd.com/recreationguide/ per St. Johns River Water Management District. This tract consists primarily of natural woodlands and wetlands. The site exhibits a remarkable amount of relief for Florida landscapes, with elevations ranging from five feet above mean sea level at points along the creek to 90 feet above mean sea level on the sandhills in the property's southern portion. The property's most distinctive characteristics are the seepage slopes and steep ravines that result from a series of naturally eroding seepage streams. These sensitive ecosystems support a wide variety of native aquatic and wetland-dependent species. The property exhibits a diversity of natural communities, some classified as being imperiled in Florida because of their rarity and vulnerability to natural or man-made factors. About 2.7 miles of the south shore of Black Creek is protected from development to maintain the important recharge functions of the upland sandhill community. Music credit: Fluidscape - Kevin MacLeod