Brooker Creek

Pinellas County is about the last place you would expect to find a big tract of undeveloped land. Surrounded by water on three sides and crowded with shoulder-to-shoulder municipalities, it has long been known as the most densely populated county in the state. When I was growing up in Pinellas, if you had told me it was home to a thriving wilderness of more than 15 square miles, I would have thought you were crazy...and thankfully, I would have been wrong:

Located east of Tarpon Springs and Palm Harbor, that wilderness has since been set aside and today is managed by the county. It goes by the name Brooker Creek Preserve, and even more surprising than its presence is the fact that it is larger than any of the state parks in the five-county area that stretches from Manatee to Hernando.

The preserve’s green tapestry is woven of bottomland hardwood swamps, cypress heads, oak hammocks, forests of longleaf pine, and some freshwater marshes. Enough trees shed their leaves for winter that the tapestry is not entirely green at this moment, but it is pretty nonetheless. On my visit yesterday I enjoyed the look of barren limbs against blue sky:

Contrary to what you might expect, Brooker Creek itself is not a singular waterway. Rather, it crosses the preserve in a series of channels that eventually merge before flowing into Lake Tarpon to the west. Some of them run dry during times of drought, only to get so full during the wet season that they spill over and flood the surrounding woods. Here is one of those channels as seen yesterday:

Brooker Creek Preserve’s main entrance is on the south side of Tarpon Springs Road, 2¼ miles east of East Lake Boulevard. Through that entrance is a 2.3-mile loop road with a parking lot at the 1.1-mile mark. That parking lot is where you will find access to a southward-spreading network of hiking trails, totaling just over 4¼ miles, plus an environmental education center constructed in Florida Pioneer-style architecture. The education center is at the end of a scenic boardwalk that passes under a sculpture made by Colorado artist Tim Upham:

The trails may be accessed from the sign in the parking lot or from behind the education center. It makes no difference which you choose, because the trailheads represent opposite ends of the 0.7-mile Ed Center Trail, a semi-circular path that links up with the Wilderness Trail and Flatwoods Trail…In turn, both of those link up with the Blackwater Cutoff Trail, as the Flatwoods Trail intersects its northern terminus and the Wilderness Trail intersects its southern…At one point rather far afield, the Blackwater Cutoff intersects the Pine Needle Path, which stakes out to the south and meets up with the Wilderness Trail at the furthest spot you can reach without going illegally off-trail…Oh, and I have not even mentioned the Bird Path, a short side route off the Ed Center Trail all the way back near the beginning.

Sound confusing? It probably does, but the good news is that it all makes sense when you look at the trail map and follow the numbered signs. Maps are free and can be picked up from dispensers at the trailheads.

It is worth noting that while this trail network is the only one accessible from Brooker Creek Preserve’s main entrance, it is not the only one in the preserve. There is a second preserve entrance on Old Keystone Road, which turns north from Tarpon Springs Road about 1½ miles to the west. This second entrance provides access to a northward-spreading, 10-mile network of equestrian trails, and though I have not tried to hike them, I suppose there is nothing stopping you from doing so as long as you don’t mind always being on the lookout for “horse pies.”

Lastly, a third entrance to Brooker Creek Preserve can be found on Lora Lane, which turns south from Tarpon Springs Road about a half-mile west of the main entrance. The downside of the Lora Lane access point is that there are no parking spaces, but the upside is that it leads you to a 1¾-mile path that is identified as Site W81 on the Great Florida Birding Trail.

I can not think of any reason not to visit Brooker Creek this time of year, so I encourage you to point your car in its direction as soon as you can. Happy Trails!

Brooker Creek Headwaters

It is important to say that Brooker Creek Headwaters Preserve is not the same place as Brooker Creek Preserve. The latter is well-known because it receives a lot of press, but when it comes to the former, the only people who seem to know about it are a handful of the ones who live in its immediate vicinity.

Located in northwestern Hillsborough County, Brooker Creek Headwaters Preserve occupies an 1,100-acre tract between Gunn Highway and the Suncoast Parkway, stretching north from Van Dyke Road to Lutz Lake Fern Road. As its name suggests, it was set aside to protect the wetlands that feed what eventually becomes Brooker Creek.

Do not let the preserve’s name and purpose mislead you into assuming that it is one hundred percent wetlands, for nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, it contains some hardwood swamp, but it also has oak forests, pine flatwoods, and tall-grass prairies.

There are five roadside entrances to Brooker Creek Headwaters, but only two of them have parking: One on Lutz Lake Fern and the other on Ramblewood Road, which is the first right turn off of Van Dyke when heading west from the Suncoast. I recommend entering from Ramblewood because you will be plunged straight into woods from which no civilization can be seen. If you use the Lutz Lake Fern entrance, you will find that part of the first trail segment tracks right beside the preserve boundary that backs up to a neighborhood, meaning that for several minutes you will walk with woods to your left and backyards to your right.

No less than 5½ miles of interconnected trails traverse the interior of Brooker Creek Headwaters. These are not trails in the traditional sense of narrow footpaths crowded by vegetation -- rather, they are unpaved Jeep roads that vehicles can not access, thanks to locked gates at the entry points.

Generally speaking, the center of the tract has most of the open, prairie-like terrain, whose soft earth I find especially amenable to trail running. That terrain is encircled by a variety of forest types extending to the boundaries. Damp spots are found intermittently through all of the forests, but more so in the eastern parts of the preserve than in the western. Palmetto, joined by longleaf pine, is common in the southwestern quarter, while a mixture of oaks and deciduous trees dominates the southeast.

Bird lovers might be interested to know that I have seen many kestrels in the southwestern quarter. Only seven to eight inches long, kestrels rank as North America’s smallest bird of prey and feed mostly on lizards, mice, and locusts. Some people refer to them as sparrow hawks, but in reality, they are a kind of falcon.

Brooker Creek Headwaters is a fine place to spend a couple hours outside, and to be satisfied that you are experiencing a piece of the Tampa Bay area that few others know about. Having said that, you might not be entirely alone for the whole time you are here, for in addition to backing up to a neighborhood near the Lutz Lake Fern entrance, Brooker Creek Headwaters is very close to Cheval, and some knowledgeable residents of these communities make sure to experience this place. On a visit last winter I saw what I thought was a gigantic wild hog move off of the trail, but when I got a few steps closer I realized it was an Irish wolfhound. When I returned a couple weeks later, I saw the same wolfhound being walked by its owners, who had an additional four dogs in tow.

A printable trail map can be found here, or you can pick one up from the information kiosk at the Ramblewood entrance. The maps are generally reliable, but be aware that they are not one hundred percent accurate because there are a few trails which do not appear on them. If you turn onto one of those trails you could find yourself scratching your head for a bit; but fortunately, given the preserve’s trail density, trail signage, and location, you will not be lost long if that happens.

As Roy Rogers once sang: Happy Trails!