Hiking at Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park

Location and Hiking Trail Maps for Fern Loop and Ridge Trail with Nature Viewing Information and Photos

Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park
Clay County
Near Keystone Heights, Florida
Entry Fee: $5 per car
Traffic: Light/moderate

Map of Gold Head Branch Trail at Mike Roess State Park

PDF Trail Map ^
Interactive Trail Map at AllTrails >

Starting at the Ravine Stairway, you descend into a lush ravine with the Gold Head Branch creek meandering through. It feels so cool and smells so

Fern Loop

good down here after a rain! The extent of hiking trails include Fern Loop (under a quarter mile), Ridge Trail, and Loblolly Loop, with the there-and-back Ridge Trail connecting the other two and accounting for most of the trails’ length.

Altogether, they run about 3.2 miles.

This might not seem like much hiking, but Ridge Trail is part of Florida Trail, so you can follow that further from either end.

Where the trails really shine and making them a great hike, especially for those new to the region, is the variety of plant life labeled by markers all through the trail. Markers for Sweet Gum, Southern Magnolia, Flowering Dogwood, American Holly, Longleaf Pine, Live Oak, Resurrection Fern and others will help you learn the various fauna of central Florida along with other informative plaques along the way.

Trail Images Below