Bayard Conservation Area

 

 12 Miles South of Jacksonville, FL

 

February 2015

 

 

Laurel and I had a rare few hours to ourselves and she wanted to go for a hike (heart stops to melt moment), so we went to Bayard Conservation Area. Bayard is my favorite place to hike within 30 minutes of home. It's a huge protected area with many miles of trails offering countless loop and out & back hiking options through several different forest types and one trail even ends at the banks of the St. Johns River. Since we didn't have Kellisa, I was able to take Laurel on a trail that features a very cool, but too narrow for any kind of mobility chair, boardwalk. The rest of the trails are wide, flat and usually free from mud. We didn't see any wildlife, but Laurel was ready to learn how to follow a trail using painted blazes on trees. (More pictures)

Hiking to the St. Johns River at Bayard with Kellisa (Nov. 2012)



Bayard Conservation Area

Bayard Conservation Area

Size: 10,320 acres along the western bank of the St. Johns River

November 2012

Kellisa and I finally had the time to try our new Freedom Push Chair on a trail. We drove just under 11 miles from our home to the Bayard Conservation Area, one of our favorite local hiking places. 

Because we had limited time, I decided to follow interior roads as much as possible to my goal of reaching Davis Landing. Our route in red:

Along the path: 

In the middle of the trail, we came across this cottonmouth basking in the sun: 

Kellisa at Davis Landing along the St. Johns River:

The grassy trail through a pine forest:

We pushiked 6.66 miles in 1 hour, 58 minutes and 52.78 seconds: