Boardwalks allows hikers to enjoy nature and wildlife
If you want to see a Florida black bear, there are plenty of neighborhoods in Seminole County you could visit.
Seminole, after all, is the place where the unofficial motto is “Keep your trash secure.”
But there’s another, more natural place where the large, lumbering creatures hang out: the Black Bear Wilderness Area, along the St. Johns River just west of Sanford.
This month, county workers wrapped up an $800,000 project that added several miles of boardwalks to the trails, along with a rain shelter and campsites.
The boardwalks will help hikers and nature lovers more easily enjoy the nearly 1,700-acre Black Bear Wilderness Area when it reopens in June.
“Boardwalks are such a great gateway into natural areas for people not comfortable with hiking on a regular trail,” said Sandra Friend, who has written several books about hiking in Florida, including “Five Star Trails: Orlando” and “The Florida Trail Guide.”
She and her husband also run the website floridahikes.com.
Because the Black Bear Wilderness Area sits near a dense urban area — including Orlando and Sanford — it gives residents an opportunity to enjoy the natural world, Friend said.
When Seminole County purchased the property in 2005 and opened the area to the public a year later, it became a popular place for bird and wildlife watchers.
It’s not unusual for visitors to find bear tracks on the trails or bear scratches on the trees.
The area is also filled with other native Florida wildlife, including bobcats, hawks, deer, owls, turtles, otters and pygmy rattlesnakes.
Before the new boardwalk was built, the original dirt trail at the wilderness area was only about 2 miles long and led hikers straight to the St. Johns River.
That old trail was not easy to walk on. It was often wet and muddy in many spots. And hikers had to watch their step to avoid tripping over many tree roots.
“It was an old trail that was not very smooth,” said Jim Duby, Seminole’s nat- ural-lands program manager.
That is why the county installed the boardwalks.
The renovations to Black Bear Wilderness Area are part of a $1.4 million effort by the county to improve three Seminole facilities.
At Geneva Wilderness Area, the county built a new pavilion with restrooms. At Lake Harney Wilderness Area, new boardwalks and an observation deck were added.
Duby added that the county will put up signs near Black Bear Wilderness Area to lead visitors to the front entrance at Michigan Avenue and North New York Street.
“It’s a pretty popular place,” Duby said. “It’s surprising how many folks call us to say that they really enjoy it because it is so remote and you get to see so much.”