Featured Destination Story

Big Pine Trail

Jacksonville, FL

Big Pine Trail is a short walk to the shoreline and salt marshes along Simpson Creek. Explore the diverse island habitats, including hiking the Big Pine Trail to the marsh. A salty creek slices through the black needle rush. Gnarled cedars stand sentinel along the bluff. Keep an eye out for wildlife including pileated woodpeckers, ospreys, gopher tortoises, white-tailed deer, and raccoons as you explore the trail.

The southernmost trail on Big Talbot Island is the 0.8-mile Big Pine Trail, a short walk out to a bluff above the estuary. From the trailhead, follow the trail as it winds through a maritime hammock that surrounds a slash pine forest which the trail meanders through, always riffled by a stiff salt breeze. A spur trail leads to the scenic view, and you can clamber down the hillside to the needle rush marsh. Red bay, holly, and live oaks provide a shady canopy. Beware of poison ivy that creeps up to the footpath in places.