Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park
FL State Parks Quest: 21/175
Tallahassee, FL
3 March 2018
Introduction
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in early March, there were no plans or responsibilities holding me down. I had been to twenty of Florida's state parks already, but for some reason I still had not made it to Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park even though I already got the stamp from Wakulla Springs State Park. The park is on the smallish side of state parks, so it would be a fun few hours of relaxing physical activity while learning about Florida's Native American history and exploring some new trails.
About Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park
- Park: Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park
- Region: North Central
- Physical Address: 3600 Indian Mounds Rd. Tallahassee, FL 32303
- Hours: Daily: 08:00 - Sundown
- Admissions [Use Honor Box]: $3/Vehicle, $2/Pedestrians and bicyclists, or FREE with an Annual Pass
- Website
- Brochure
Currently, the park encompasses four earthen temple mounds developed by the Native Americans who inhabited Lake Jackson many centuries ago. The public can view two of the mounds. There are also two sections of trails.
The historical complex includes six earthen temple mounds and potentially one burial mound. They provide evidence that explorers such as Juan Ponce de Leon and Hernando de Soto did not "discover" Florida. Native Americans lived here WAY before the Europeans sailed across the ocean. The people who lived here were ancestors of the Apalachee but also the forebears of the Creek, Cherokee, and Choctaw.
Their diet consists of anything they could obtain through hunting, fishing, and farming. They hunted deer and turkey alongside some smaller game. They caught fish and captured turtles. Their tools included spears, bows and arrows, traps, and snares. They planted corn, squash, beans, etc. and gathered berries and roots.
The Lake Jackson people had developed trade networks with other Southeastern centers including Etowah in Georgia, Moundville in Alabama, and Duck River in Tennessee. They trades useful and decorative objects - shell beads, shell tools, shark teeth, salt, and more for copper and special stones.
Here is a mini timeline -
AD 1100-1500
This area was the political and religious center for Native Americans who resided nearby. The mounds are the largest known ceremonial center of the Fort Walton culture.
AD 1200
Southern Cult or Southeastern Ceremonial Complex - Flourishing around AD 1200, this was a system of a shared social-religious cultural complex of the people from what we now consider the southeastern United States. Recovered burial objects include copper breast plates embossed with ritual figures, copper badges that were attached to costumes, copper axes, weapons, and jewelry such as shell bead necklaces and bracelets.
The Lake Jackson people abandoned this area for unknown reasons.
AD 1539-1540
Descendants of the Lake Jackson people, settled away from the mounds met the Hernando de Soto expedition. The Europeans spent the winter just a few miles away then moved on.
AD 1820s
Colonel Robert Butler had his plantation right by the mounds. On the nature trail, you can see the remains of his mill damn and irrigation system.
AD 1940s and on
Archaeologists began the study of the Lake Jackson people analyzing pottery, tools, and the locations and shapes of the mounds. The people who lived here left no written record.
The Mounds
The Lake Jackson people had very limited tools for building the mounds - digging sticks and hoes made from wood, bone, and/or shell. They did not have any help from wagons or animals in carrying their baskets filled with earth. They had nearby borrow pits from which they filled the baskets, but the surviving borrow pits are not nearly as large as the mounds, creating questions about where the rest of the earth came from.
They built the mounds in stages. After each stage of earth, they added a thin layer of clay which capped the mound's surface. This formed the foundation of the structure.
We first went to the larger of the two mounds. It is about 278x312 feet at the base and 36 feet tall.
We descended and walked through the shady picnic area to the next mound.
Here is the second mound. It is less impressive than the first.
I tracked all of the walking/hiking with my Garmin, Strava map below. The jumbled part sticking out to the right was from walking around the main area discussed above.
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| Link to Strava hiking activity: Lake Jackson Mounds State Park |
Butler Mill Trail
South of the parking lot and the smaller of the two mounds begins the Butler Mill Trail. The hike on here was just over a mile. This trail passes through remnants of Florida's Territorial Period and early statehood (1825-1860). We will see what is remaining of Colonel Robert Butler's 1800s grist mill.
The trail was blooming and beautiful. There was a nice variety of the vegetation, the trails were clear but not made too easy, and it remained interesting through the full mile's duration.
Bridge above and creek that it goes over below.
The next two pictures are of Halesia diptera, more commonly known as Two-wing Silverbell or "Snowdrop-tree". Both of those names refer to the two-winged fruit, which is an immature sour green fruit consumed by wildlife. The habitat is very much the part of the United States just above the Gulf of Mexico from Southeast to Texas to Northwest Florida, maybe some in South Carolina. They are found in wet soils that border streams and swamps in both hardwood and pine forests. Checks out! Source: Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region.
Steepheads - Steep-walled, forested ravines normally found along the east bank of the Apalachicola River. "Steepheads" is the local name. They have small streams and a cool, moist microclimate that is different from that of the surrounding terrain. Common flora include Southern Magnolia, Redbud, and the Oakleaf Hydrangea with rich herb and vine flora. The varieties of ferns include maiden, venus hair, and Southern Lady Ferns - fairly rare elsewhere. Ravine forests related to steepheads occur all around the Northern counties in the Florida Panhandle. This information is all from the park sign, photo to the right. For more information, check out Northwest Florida Environmental Conservancy: Steepheads
We reach the trail's namesake.
Don't forget to look up...
Lake Jackson Mounds Nature Trail
We used the brochure to figure out where we were going, but none of the trail names are on the brochure's map. We go from pecans to scratching turkeys.
We've got a lot of pine trees over here.
Florida's State Parks and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are great about wildlife. They set up protection for a gopher tortoise burrow here.
The trails got a little confusing. We were following a pipeline area for a bit, which was probably the trail even though it didn't feel correct. For the most part, it got wide and grassy.
While there were some cool trees, especially as we were approaching sunset, this mini trail system was less interesting than Butler Mill Trail.
Don't slow down, or else Owl Pass ya on this trail!
Lake Jackson
In the photos below you can see how low the lake is, taken from the perspective of where the boat ramp was originally built. People now just drive down the concrete ramp over to the grass area where you can access the lake better. More information about Lake Jackson's water level fluctuations in the following links:
Tallahassee Democrat 2017-09-21:What makes Lake Jackson drain so quickly?
Tallahassee Democrat 2017-10-19: Water level fluctuations are natural cycle at Lake Jackson
Wikipedia: Lake Jackson (Tallahassee, FL)
We drove up to Shuckers Half Shell Oyster Bar for oysters, food, and beer. It's pretty much what you expect for a lakeside oyster bar with a boat ramp. Another Tallahassee restaurant I had never been to until now.
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