NEKKID REDNECK
nearest town DeLand FL, but it's in
Lake County
Seeded 12/29/02 by MountainScorpia and BoppoMan

A beautiful 8 mile loop nature trail...box is about 1 mile in.
Leashed dogs fine.
Mosquito and tick protection recommended. Your feet may get wet if it has
been rainy.
Use a restroom in town; bring water and snacks - there is nothing out here
but you, Mother Nature, and the Nekkid Redneck!

100 years ago, when paddlewheelers drove the commerce of central Florida,
there was a town called St. Francis just across the St. John's River from
DeLand. It had hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, homes, a thriving
agricultural business, and was a major trading center for goods bound for
inland towns. Merchandise was loaded onto oxcarts and driven to points west
such as Mt. Dora and Eustis.

When the railroad was built on the DeLand side of the river, paddlewheelers
were abandoned - some were literally run aground and left to rot - and the
town of St. Francis died.

If you do the entire loop instead of turning back after stamping up, you
will see some of the old oxcart roads and the foundations of the town. You
will also see more of The "Real" Florida - hammocks, swamp, springs, palms,
pines, live oaks.