The Historic Bartram Trail
By Kathleen Walls Americanroads.net
Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge
William Bartram, one of America’s first naturalists to visit and write about Florida, piqued the interest of Dr. Tony Abbott at Stetson Universit. He retraced Bartram’s travels across Volusia County and created a brochure to guide visitors along Bartram’s sites. It is called Experience William Bartram’s Florida. Let’s begin at the Bartram Gardens and Trail in DeLand at the Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center, a ten-acre natural area on the shores of Lake Beresford. The gardens are native plants and interpreted with signage using copies of Bartram’s original drawings. Bartram traveled from Lake George southward towards Lake Monroe on the Seminole County line. Staying true to Bartram’s route, head for Astor and visit the Bartram Oak on Highway 40 just east of the Saint Johns River. Spalding Upper Indian Trade Store, the last European settlement
west of St. Johns was just across the river. William Bartram spent several weeks here in 1774. He describes searching for curious vegetable productions, collecting seeds, planting and growing roots in boxes.” The oak would have been a sapling at that time. So the legend grew and it became “Bartram’s Oak.”
This is where the Saint Johns River earns the name “River of Lakes. The river forms Lake Dexter, a few smaller lakes, and then Lake Woodruff. This group of lakes is where Bartram describes the anhinga, or a Snake Bird. It’s also where he describes the multitude of alligators found here. He writes, “The alligators were in such incredible numbers, and so close together from shore to shore, that it would have been easy to have walked across on their heads, had the animals been harmless.” The refuge was established in 1964 as a migratory bird home to more than 230 species. It is the second-largest pre-migration roosting point of swallow-tailed kites in the United States. Swallow-tailed kites are easily identified by their distinctive black split tail that forms a perfect V. These black and white birds of prey winter in Brazil and return to Florida each spring to build their nest. There is a good chance of seeing bald eagles here. You might see deer, marsh rabbits, otters, and gopher tortoises while you hike their fifteen miles of trails. Other wings to see are Erica Group’s Swallow-Tailed Kite Wings murals as part of the “Wings of The West.” They represent something about the location where they’ve been painted. Please turn to next page
August, 2022 ~ EXTENDEDWEEKENDGETAWAYS.COM | -55-
