Highlands Weekend Camping Trip Feb 2011

Sebring, Florida: With the baseball season fast approaching and the heat and humidity starting to return to Florida, we decided to squeeze in one more camping trip. We have been watching Highland Hammocks State Park for availability and it has been booked each time we checked. However when we returned home from our last trip to Lake Manatee, we checked the website and were lucky enough to learn that a spot had become available at Highlands, so we quickly booked it. So within a month, we went from never going camping to going back-to-back weekends.

Although Highland Hammocks is a pet friendly campground, we decided to board the dogs for the weekend so we could enjoy some of the parts of the part that were restricted to the dogs like the boardwalks and tram tour. So after we dropped the dogs off at the kennel, we hit the road towards Sebring.

Sebring is located about an 80 mile drive north east of our home in North Port. But to make the trip a little more interesting, we tried to stay off the main road for much of the journey. The simple I-75 to US-17 to SR-70 to US-27 highway run was mixed up with a few back roads. And by back roads, I mean really back roads the ones with one lane bridges and unpaved in parts. The drive tacked on about an hour to the trip, but took us through parts of Florida that in 13 years living here I have yet to see. Much to my belief, all of Florida is not flat. There are parts where there are rolling hills and large lakes, much like what I grew up around in Pennsylvania. Along our way, we went through miles upon miles of orange groves and cattle farms while we passed through rural Sarasota, Desoto, Hardee and Highlands counties.

Once we arrived at Highlands Hammock State Park, we checked into our campsite. We site 29, right on the main drive coming into the family campground. What first caught my attention was the lack of buffer between sites. The campground was nicely shaded by large trees, but there was little in the way of ground foliage to separate the sites. But that was not a problem to us, we quickly went to work setting up camp. The set-up is getting easier and easier as now I have a routine and have a bag set aside with my set-up equipment to make the process go much smoother. Plus this time was especially easy since there wasn't two energetic dogs wanting to explore.

One the camp was done, we began to explore ourselves. We drove the truck down to the main visitor's area and began our exploration from there. This is where we started hiking some of the park's nine nature trails. We began with the Wild Orange Grove Trail. The 30 minute hike goes through a wild orange grove intermingled with native pines and palms. When we completed this trail, we hoped right into the Alexander Blair Big Oak Trail. The highlight of the trail is a 1,000 year old Live Oak tree that has a truck that is 36 feet in diameter. The Big Oak Trail leads right into the Hickory Trail which has one of the parks signature catwalks.

After completing the Hickory Trail, we headed back down the park drive towards the main area of the park where we left the truck. Along the way, we came across a small stream near the road where a mother alligator and her nine babies were resting on the bank. They were so close to the road it made for a great photo op. We then continued back to the main area of the park to tour the CCC Museum.

The CCC Museum is housed in an original CCC building and is in honor of the Civilian Conservation Corps that helped build Highlands Hammock State Park and many more of the parks in the Florida State Parks system. When we finished in the museum, we hopped in the truck and took a ride through the three mile park loop road, marveling at the natural beauty of the park.

When we finished the loop around the park, we went to the Ranger Station to purchase some firewood and transport it back to the campsite. A $4.00 donation to the Friends of Highlands Hammock will get you one bundle of firewood or about 15 pieces depending on size. There are plenty of places along the way to get firewood, but the small fee they charge goes directly back into supporting the maintenance of the park and its services so it is well worth the money.

We dropped of the firewood at the site and went back onto the trails, trying to get in as much as possible as the sun began to get lower in the sky. Our next trail to hike was the park's most popular trail, the Cypress Swamp Trail. The elevated boardwalk goes through a cypress swamp and through Charlie Bowlegs Creek, providing great views and photo ops. While we have seen some awesome animal sightings from this area online, we only spotted a few turtles on our trip. But the scenery was well worth the walk.

Our final trail of the day was the Ancient Hammock Trail. The longest trail in the park went through the oldest part of the hammock. As we got back to the trailhead, the sun was dropping further in the sky so we decided to end our hiking adventures for the day. We made one last stop for the day by the baby alligators to try and get some pictures of them awake and moving around. Unfortunately, the only thing really moving around was mama gator. While I was back on the edge of road with a considerable distance between the myself and the water, she did not take kindly to my presence. With a kind hiss and a charge towards the bank, I got back in the truck and moved on. While I was no where near encroaching on her and her babies, it was a gentle reminder that we are in the wild and need to always respect the boundaries of wild animals.

Once my adrenaline rush was over and my heart rate slowed back to normal, we headed into Sebring to look for dinner. Sebring was not at all what I had pictured. I really like the lake in the middle of town. It did not feel like we were still in Florida. After driving up and down US-27, we decided to try something outside of the normal chain variety restaurants we have at home. We originally tried the Sebring Diner but they were so full with a large line, it wasn't going to work for us.

So we ended up at the Village Inn. Although it had decent ratings online, I strongly advise not to go here. The food and service was horrendous. First they didn't even acknowledge our son's presence for a drink order. Then when the food came, the order was wrong. The food was not very good and we never received any refills on the drinks throughout the entire meal. The only time we saw our waitress was to place the order and drop the food off. There was no other visit to the table by the waitress to see how we were doing or if we needed anything. They were all too busy arguing with each other on who had what table and why. The service was so slow and poor, the table next to us just got up and left without ever getting their food. In all, dinner took about 2 hours and was 2 hours of my life I will never get back. The food was that bad, I had to stop and get something else on the way back.

When we got back to the campground, we started our campfire. Or at least tried to start our campfire. The lack of little sticks to start the fire made it tough to get the fire going. I tried using leaves and it would burn fast and hot but go out quickly without starting the wood on fire. After a couple cycles of doing this, I finally got the fire going and going good. We relaxed by the campfire while listening to one of the campers a few sites away play his acoustic guitar and sing for everyone. It was a great night. Later in the evening, I took my son to a clearing up the path a bit to see the night sky. Its amazing how vibrant the stars in the sky look without the residual lighting of living in town. Pretty soon the fire was out and it was quiet hours and time to get some sleep.

In the morning, I headed to the Ranger Station to purchase tickets for the tram ride. The tram is very popular and tickets sell out fast. They do not advance sell the tickets, they are only available to purchase in person the day of the tram ride. So I followed the advice of the ranger and arrived at the Ranger Station early. I got there at 7:30, a half hour before the station opened and there was already 5 people in line. But that wasn't a problem and we got three tickets for the first tram at 11:00.

Then we headed back into town for breakfast. This time we decided to have breakfast at the Sebring Diner. With the large lines from the night before, great ratings online and the fact that it seemed all of Highlands County EMS was there for breakfast, it had to be good. The meal was good and the prices were good. While it wasn't as good as some our favorites at home, it was worth the trip. I had biscuits and gravy with a side of scrapple, something I hadn't had to eat since visiting Pennsylvania in 2004. My wife had an omelet and my son had pancakes that were thick and about as large as a plate.

After breakfast we headed back to the park to tear down our tent. Like set-up, the process of taking down camp has become easier. Now if only I could fold the air mattress to fit back into the bag, it would be a 100% success.

Once we had camp torn down, we ventured out to hit the last few trails we missed yesterday before boarding the tram. The first trail we hiked was the Richard Lieber Memorial Trail. The entrance of the trail is marked by another 1,000 year old oak, the oldest in the park. This trail was also the last of the boardwalk trails in the park. Afterwards we hiked the Young Hammock Trail, a trail dedicated to showing the positive effects of fire in the forest. Once we completed the trail, it was time to head back for the tram.

The tram tour began from in front of the CCC museum and takes passengers on a hour tour of the off limits area of the park. On the way to the restricted area, our tour guide Kevin told us the stories of some of the people who help shape the park. Once we entered into the restricted area, we traveled along a dirt road through several different Florida ecosystems. On the way we past a small female gator and a belted kingfisher. He told us stories of all the animals that could be found in the park; bobcats, pigs, panther, bear and much more make their way through the park. While we had not seen any of these, left the scrub area and followed the canal, we found tons of gators varying in age. As we approached the bridge, we found a rarity in the park, a large male gator lying on the bank. Also along the tour we saw several species of turtles, a cottonmouth snake, red-shouldered hawk, black vultures and a few other birds. I highly recommend this tour if you have time, but be sure to arrive early to get a spot as all tours usually sell out.

Once the tour was over, we headed back over to see the baby gators one last time before beginning our journey home.

On the way home, we took a different route home and stopped at another state park on the way home. Just south of Sebring off US-27 is the Lake June in Winter State Park. We took a brief photo stop here before continuing home.

The weekend trip was fantastic. I really enjoyed Highlands Hammock State Park and recommend it to anyone who loves the outdoors. It has everything you could ask for in a park. Below is a slideshow from the trip. Check back later for more articles on the parks.