Julington-Durbin Preserve

Dahoon Holly

Nature Man's first opportunity for you Nature Lovers to visit is the Julington-Durbin Preserve.  I have visited this Preserve for hiking and nature viewing on several occasions. I highly recommend Julington Durbin and promise that it provides endless natural beauty in flora and wildlife.  The Preserve is located on a peninsula formed at the confluence of Julington and Durbin Creeks.


Pineland Blazing Star

Location
Julington Durbin is convenient to all Jacksonville and surrounding area residents.  Julington-Durbin's Trailhead can be found, after exiting I-95, by traveling west on Old St. Augustine Road for a few 100 yards and then turning left on Bartram Park Blvd. The Trailhead is on the right after traveling approximately 1 mile on Bartram Park Blvd.

Gopher Apple

Commumities
Julington-Durbin was cooperatively purchased with the State of Florida's Conservation and Recreational Lands Program and the City of Jacksonville's Preservation Project of the Better Jacksonville Plan. The peninsula is a long sandy ridge that grades into floodplain swamp and marsh along the creek's shores. Natural communities consist of sandhill along the higher areas near the center of the peninsula and flat-woods at the lower elevations. The preserve contains extensive floodplain wetlands, providing water quality and floodplain protection for both creeks and the Saint  Johns River.

Wildlife
Known wildlife at the preserve include bald eagle, osprey, owls, gopher tortoise, bobcat, turkey, deer, several snakes and numerous species of wading and songbirds. Manatees seasonally swim in both creeks. Recreational activities include hiking, picnicking, horseback riding, bicycling, birding and nature viewing and study.

On your visit it is recommended you bring water to drink, bug repellent, sun screen, close-toed shoes appropriate for hiking in sandy soil, binoculars, camera, Audubon Florida Field Guide for flora and wildlife identification purposes, and the following brochure/map:

http://www.preserveflorida.org/images/PDF/JulingtonDurbin.pdf

 A reminder of proper trail etiquette:

• Keep Dogs on a leash and well behaved.
• Animal and plant life are protected. Do not kill, trap or molest any mammal, bird reptile or amphibian. Do not pick, cut, carve, break off limbs from, or mutilate any plant life.
• Pack it in, pack it out.
• Take only pictures and memories.

In your visit you might get the opportunity to photograph an Osprey in flight, a Deer slipping thru the pines or a Carolina Wren speaking to you from the limb above. Nature Man Photography brings you the following:




Southern Water Snake

Goldenrod



Beauty Berry




Barred Owl