Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park

Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park

FL State Parks Quest [30/175]

Pensacola, FL

29 July 2018

Introduction

Florida State Park Staples
Sand ✔
Pine Trees ✔
Saw Palmetto ✔
Body of Water ✔

Florida State Park Common Features
Live Oak Trees with Spanish Moss ✔
Multiple Natural Communities ✔
Info signs about prescribed burns ✔

Confusing number/mile markers posts ✔

Florida State Park Rarities
Pitcher Plants! ✔

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Falling Waters State Park  >>  Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park  >>  Orange Beach, AL -- Dave Matthews Band

The whole point of today was to attend the rescheduled Dave Matthews Band concert in Orange Beach, AL at the Wharf Ampitheatre. We planned to make our stop here at Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park to get some hiking in along the way, but we added an impromptu stop at Falling Waters State Park along the way. That was my second time at Falling Waters. The first time the waterfall was a mere trickle. This time after a very rainy season, the waterfall was more convincing. After delicious beer and pizza at Hopjacks in downtown Pensacola, we made our journey to the bayou.

"Wet-Prairie landscapes surround a picturesque coastal bayou teeming with rare plant and animal species"

The state park features three trails. The main featured trail is named after the park - Tarkiln Bayou Trail, which is designed to accommodate everyone as it is an ADA accessible trail of 0.5 miles one direction up and back. The trail ends in an observation area for the bayou. The longer Perdido Bay Trail is approximately 6.5 miles and allows access to the beaches and immerses you along several natural communities - wet prairie, tidal marsh, maritime hammock, sandhill, and wet flatwoods. The third trail is across the highway from the parking lot and is where we observed most of the carnivorous pitcher plants.

We only hiked two trails. The trail we didn't do --- the Tarkiln Bayou Trail. We were fairly tired and still had to drive to Orange Beach, AL and have a blast at the Dave Matthews Band concert.

So..... we never did see the actual bayou.

Park Profile - Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park

• Region: Northwest
• Year Established: 1998
• Location
• Physical Address: 2401 Bauer Road Pensacola FL 32507
• GPS: 30.372912, -87.402694
• Google Maps
• Distance from Tallahassee: 211 miles | 3 Hours 10 Minutes | Eastern to Central time zone
• Phone: 850.492.1595
• Fees - Admission: 
• $3/Vehicle
• $2/Pedestrians, bicyclists
• FREE with an Annual Pass (additional car passengers $2)
• Hours: 08:00 - Sunset, 365 Days/Year
• FL State Parks Website
• FL State Parks Brochure
• FT Ranger on Duty: No
• Passport Stamp Location: Big Lagoon State Park (Pensacola, FL)

The Gear

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The Story

The parking lot is directly on the West side of Bauer Rd (Highway 293). It's an informal lot, but there's enough space for a decent amount of people.

As promised by the park's website: "A small sheltered picnic pavilion located adjacent to the Tarkiln Bayou Trail trailhead is available on a first-come, first-served basis."

Strava

Link to Strava hiking activity: Tarkiln Bayou

Hiking the Perdido Bay Trail

The Tarkiln Bayou and Perdido Bay Trails begin together on a sidewalk.

After a brief distance, the Perdido Bay Trail turns off to the right.

There are mile markers every half mile.

This tree looks like it is trying really hard not to pee even though it really needs to go.

Beautiful live oaks! <3 

First glimmers of the Perdido Bay

Just a few steps off the main trail, you have access to the beach for sun, chilling, fishing, birdwatching, whatever catches your fancy.

Saw palmetto was in abundance of course. There were some other cool plants around as well.

Canopy trail!

The observed wildlife was minimal. Basically it's butterfly and lizard season.

We completed the Perdido Bay loop and reached the parking lot. We regrouped and then proceeded to cross the street and hike the Wet Prairie Trail in search of pitcher plants.

On to the Wet Prairie Trail

The wet prairie trail started out wet. They weren't kidding. The whole hike ended up being just around 2 miles.

As we were tired, getting low on time, and still had a big evening ahead of us, we decided to go see some pitcher plants and then return. We only found one area of pitcher plants. It of course was at the halfway mark of the trail so we did the entire route anyway.

PITCHER PLANT PORN!

The land was originally purchased in 1998 and known as the Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie. I'm going to call it the PPPP.  Since then the park has expanded from 900 acres to 4,200 acres.

Most of the pitchers shown are the white-top pitcher plant [Sarracenia leucophylla], which is unique to the Gulf Coast and found only between the Apalachicola and Mississippi rivers. According to a 'Learn' article from the FL State Parks website that I could only access from Google but not the site itself, there are four types of pitcher plants in the park: parrot, purple, and red.

"Pitcherplants are some of many fire-dependent species found in wet prairies and are affected by any alteration to the hydrological regime. 

Efforts to improve the pitcherplant habitat within Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park have been increased with the use of prescribed fire, the removal of encroaching woody species such as black titi and the future hydrological restoration of sheetflow along the northwest boundary."

The following are word for word descriptions of the three other types that can be found in the park, thanks to Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.

Sarracenia rubra (Sweet Pitcher Plant) The East coast native Sarracenia rubra isn't as flashy as others, but it's still a great plant. The small, upright, green pitchers (1/2" wide x 12" tall) are topped with a light red hood and are produced en masse throughout the entire growing season. The clumps are topped with spectacular flying-saucer-shaped red flowers in spring on 1' stems. The specific epithet 'rubra', is derived from the Latin for the color red and refers to the color of the leaves and foliage. (Zone 5-9)
(Note: Gulf Coast Redflower Pitcherplant (ssp. gulfensis in the Florida Panhandle) [Source: UF IFAS Extension: Native Pitcherplants of Florida])

Sarracenia psittacina (Parrot Pitcher Plant) This East Coast native is the really fascinating member of the pitcher plant family. The leaves, shaped like parrot heads (not to be confused with Jimmy Buffet fans), are green with red veins and lie flat on the ground in a perfect circle. While the parrot pitcher is one of the smaller pitcher plants to 12" diameter, this is the one that draws everyone's attention ... even before they see the flowers that resemble red umbrellas, held above the foliage in early spring. (Zone 5-9)

Sarracenia purpurea (Purple Pitcher Plant) This is the most cold-tolerant, easiest-to-grow, and one of the most spectacular of the pitcher plants. The red-veined green pitchers usually turn a lovely blood red in fall. As with Sarracenia psittacina, the pitchers lie flat on the ground forming a 1' wide clump with the pitchers facing upwards. Sarracenia purpurea produces new pitchers throughout the growing season, and is topped with red flowers in spring. As with Sarracenia flava, there have been many subspecies named which are merely clonal forms that should be given cultivar names and do not deserve subspecies status. (Zone 5-9, at least)

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Roar for More!

Hurdles

Well we didn't have enough time to actually go see the bayou, and didn't observe too many pitcher plants outside the one small area.

Quote

" 'Cause here we have been standing for a long, long time

Treading trodden trails for a long, long time.

I find sometimes it's easy to be myself

Sometimes I find it's better to be somebody else

So much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say... "

   DMB

Resources

• FL State Parks - Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park