Garden of Eden Trail
- June 15, 2021
The Garden of Eden Trail is located in a rural setting in the Florida panhandle near the Apalachicola River and is part of the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve. The steephead ravines were created by water seeping into the soil in the uplands until hitting the limestone under the surface. The water then traveled along the limestone until it found an opening along the banks of the river. However, as time went on, the water washed out the sand above it and developed into a small stream. These streams moved further away from the riverbank creating the geologically rare “steephead ravines” in the hillsides.
The trail begins in the upland sandy area, mostly populated with pines and maintained by prescribed burns. However, the scenery changes abruptly around the half-mile mark. For the next mile or so, you will wind down and up, down and up, through the steephead ravines and crossing streams. This is by far the most strenuous walk in Florida, and parts are as steep as anything we’ve hiked in the Smoky Mountains.
When you emerge from the last ravine, you enter a flat sandy area much like the start of the trail.
Much of the vegetation found along this portion of the Apalachicola River is similar to that found in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.
After about another half mile, you emerge on Alum Bluff. Overlooking a sharp bend in the Apalachicola River, Alum Bluff “is reported to be the largest naturally exposed section of the earth’s crust in Florida,” 135 feet above the river.
Also at the Bluff is a bench dedicated to George Willson. George Willson was a land conservationist and was the Director of Land Acquisition for the Florida chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) from 1984-1999 and passed away in 2019.
From here, you can continue on a rugged loop up and down more ravines or turn back and retrace your steps to the parking area. The loop is strenuous and has suffered some erosion during the storms of the last few years, but offers more incredible views.
Recommendation and Caution: This trail provides a unique opportunity to explore terrain that’s unlike any other in Florida. But…some words of warning. These ravines are incredibly steep and not like anything you will find elsewhere in the Sunshine State. Take lots of water, more than you typically would, and we don’t recommend tackling it in the summer months unless you are in very good physical condition. Once you are out of the ravine section of the trail, there is little shade until you reach the Bluff. In other words, it’s HOT in late spring and summer! Also, dogs are NOT allowed on the trail, due to the sensitive ecological nature of the area.
How did the Garden of Eden Trail get its name?
In the 1950s, Elvy Edison Callaway opened a park on his land near Bristol along the Apalachicola River, which he called the Garden of Eden. He based his claims on two factors. One was the land’s location. The Bible describes the Garden of Eden as being watered by a river that flowed from four headwaters. He believed these were the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers, and Fish Pond and Spring Creeks, coming together to form the Apalachicola River. Second, the Florida Torreya (Torreya taxifolia) is a conifer that’s found only in a few places in the world, including this area of the Panhandle. The Torreya tree is also sometimes referred to as Gopherwood, the wood the Bible says Noah used to build the Ark. Therefore, Callaway deemed the area to be the original Garden of Eden.
