Woody’s Walk at Scipio Creek

While you’re in the City of Apalachicola sampling the fresh local seafood, make time to stroll this marvelous trail. Woody’s Walk was established by the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (whose headquarters relocated to a larger facility in Eastpoint); this 0.5-mile (one way) trail is maintained by the Reserve through a partnership with the Conservation Corps of the Forgotten Coast. It leads to a sizeable elevated platform (complete with bench seats) with an incredible panoramic vista of a tidal creek (great photographic opportunities), freshwater marsh and a pre-Columbian mound complex. Check here for migrants like Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, Gray Catbird and Summer Tanager. As the elevation drops follow the wheelchair-friendly boardwalk northwest. The boardwalk emerges from the forest onto the vast tidal marshes of Scipio Creek and the Apalachicola River. Listen for resident Clapper Rails, Marsh Wrens and Seaside Sparrows in the marsh. To the north, a Bald Eagle nest is visible in the tree line. Scarce migrants like Western Kingbird can be found in the fall and a Tropical Kingbird was found near here during a Christmas Bird Count in 2004. Butterfly watchers may come across Spicebush Swallowtail, White Peacock, Cloudless Sulphur and Long-tailed Skipper