North Loop

From the intersection with the connector the trail winds around a bog, over a couple board walks and streams, and through a nice meadow. The streams appear reliable and are a good source of water. Really the only moving source of water on the loop is from these streams. After the long boardwalk the trail goes up and through an area of high grass with just a few long leaf pines. Take a break on the bench in this area. The hike from here to Nellie Ponds is short, and crosses FR325 and a fence. The ponds are host to some endangered frogs and so contain no fish. As all ponds in this forest the water level varies much depending on the weather. They were rather low when I was there. There are grasses and shrubs around the ponds, and they make an attractive place to set up camp for the night.

From Nellie Ponds the trail continues across two more forest service roads before reaching Gum Pond, which has many dead trees around it. You can see recent logging on the south side of Gum Pond. Just past Gum pond you reach the top trailhead and cross 137. Here the trail runs near another forest road for a few miles, the forest is somewhat more diverse and hilly, although still not old. The trail crosses two more forest service roads before running near Mossy Ponds. You will have to leave the trail to go down to see these ponds which are quite impressive. The ponds are surrounded by cypress trees which are covered with (guess what) Spanish moss. These ponds join together to become one pond during the wet months and then separate again in dry months. A fisherman I meet there said that the fishing is good when the ponds are one, but I saw him catch a 14 inch bass in the small ponds left at the end of the dry season. Like most of the other ponds, there is no outlet of water, they fill from rain and then evaporate during the year. These ponds would be my recommended camping sight for the trail, the only problem being that there isn't really any fresh water around. If you take water from the ponds be sure to treat it well.

From Mossy Ponds you will pass 6 more small holes of water on your way back to the lower trailhead. These holes are quite unique and undoubtedly contain some interesting habitat. A few of these holes are also surrounded by cypress, and others are surrounded by bushes. From the second forest road after Mossy Ponds it is approximately 4 miles back to 137. You will cross a couple of streams here, but when I did the trail they were dry. In wetter weather you could probably get water from them. The forest here consists of stands of long leaf pine in different stages of growth from the last logging. There are many sections of high grass in this portion, and remnants of lots of flowers remained when I hiked the trail. Just before 137 I you go through a thin pine forest, if you look carefully you should see picture plants on the side of the trail here. They were still blooming in December, although about to be finished for the year.