The Bull Creek Loop is a Gem on the Florida Trail’s Eastern Corridor

The approaching end of Florida’s winter-spring backpacking season perhaps calls for reflection on where I’ve been this season. Having focused this season more on the eastern portions of the Florida Trail closer to Orlando (as well as the Ocala National Forest), my favorite trip of the year so far may have been the one-nighter I did on the 17 1/2 mile loop at the Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area west of Melbourne in late January. Though I did get my feet wet several times, I will not soon forget the breathtaking skies I enjoyed at the Little Scrub campsite.

Set within the 23,000-acre Bull Creek WMA, the 17.3-mile Bull Creek Loop pairs an eleven-mile segment of the Florida Trail with an adjoining white-blazed trail that conveniently begins at a hunt station and camp on the western edge of the WMA.  Used in the first half of the 20^th century to harvest cypress, the Bull Creek WMA lies in a cypress swamp east of the Bull Creek, a tributary of the St. John’s River. The Bull Creek Loop circles the heart of the WMA, with the Florida Trail segment riding the eastern berm and roadbed of the old Union Cypress Railway, used before 1932 to haul fallen cypress to mills in Melbourne.

What makes the Bull Creek Loop ideal for longer overnight backpacking trips is the more easily managed flat terrain (easier on the legs than hillier loops in the Croom and Citrus Tracts in the Florida Trail’s western corridor), as well as the variety of ecosystems and the spacious campsite perfectly designed for picturesque stargazing beside the campfire.

I chose to begin the loop at Hunt Camp and hike counterclockwise to complete the shorter 7-mile leg with heavier pack on Day 1, then save the 10 ½-mile leg through the swamp on Day 2, spending the night on the prairie at the Little Scrub campsite in the southern end of the WMA.

My first leg followed the white trail south through the western portion of the WMA, passing through lush green palmetto fields of longleaf pine interspersed with cypress heads.  This is the sunnier but drier half of the hike with little shade but panoramic views of the sky.  After joining the Florida Trail at a crossing over the barbed fire fence abutting the Cresent J Ranch, the route curves east toward the swampy cypress forest on the horizon ahead.

About 2 ½ miles after joining the Florida Trail, I reached the spacious Little Scrub campsite, set among a thicket of chest-high scrub on a bed of fine white sand with several tent spots spaced for privacy.  The site has a pair of picnic tables, two permanent benches around the fire ring, and a pitcher pump that had water when I was there.

The prime attraction here is what’s above the campsite. With virtually no tree canopy obstructing views, the campsite provides a 360-degree hemisphere of stars to enjoy on a clear night, with little whitewashing of the night sky by distant city lights.

The longer 10.4-mile eastern leg of the loop follows the Florida Trail into the cypress swamp, eventually meeting the slightly elevated berm of the old Union Cypress Railway, now overgrown with pine and cabbage palm. The Florida Trail weaves for almost 6 miles along the old berm along Bull Creek between meadows of palmetto and pine and swampy cypress forest, crossing breaks in the berm over wooden bridges. In several spots the trail leaves and rejoins the railway by passing through swampy lowlands.  Eventually the trail turns west before rejoining the white trail for a sunny two-mile beeline through the palmetto prairie back to the Hunt Camp.

Compared to recent trips of similar distance I’ve taken in the Withlacoochee State Forest and the Ocala National Forest, this loop is easier because of the absence of hills, and the hiking surface is sturdy underfoot. On the downside, portions of the trail were flooded to my shoelaces, particularly on the Florida Trail segment, so you should expect wet boots.  But the Little Scrub campsite was free of mosquitos, and the two couples I met at the campsite told me they’ve never been bothered by mosquitoes there. The WMA is also free to access and primitive campsites need not be reserved, so this is a great place to try a quiet one-night backpacking trip with a bit of challenge.

Portions of this article were borrowed from an article of mine in the March 2025 issue of The Footpath Newsletter published by the Central Florida chapter of the Florida Trail Association.