Bulow Creek

View of the park from the creek

Bulow Creek/

Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park

The ghostly remnants of Bulow Plantation, a once prosperous sugar mill plantation which was later abandoned and destroyed in the Second Seminole Indian War of 1836, is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, sits in a quiet area of Flagler County and is part of the Florida State Park system. It is also recognized as a State Canoe Trail. This is where our morning began.

Our upstream journey began through marshy, wide waters. I only saw one small alligator the entire day though I'm sure plenty more successfully hid themselves from our view. As we meandered around the twisty waterway we passed many blooming scarlet hibiscus and swamp rose mallow plants. 

 

We passed many Great Blue Herons..

Dinner Time!!!

The setting changed from coastal waters with sawgrass on either side to clusters of palms and tropical plants. Eventually the water became covered with duckweed and it was like paddling through a bowl of thick pea soup! 

Just around the bend the creek became more tree canopied and the water clear once more, but it was low and there were several logs to scoot over. JB got to see a black and white hog by the creek bank, but when Roxy caught wind of it and began to bark, it disappeared back into the woods. I did get to hear it grunt and snort before it took off! This juvenile Little Blue Heron guided us into the creek. (Yes, hard to believe that a white bird with greenish legs will soon turn all blue!)

A hawk flew past us into the tree and silently watched as we attempted to turn our boats around in the shallow water with logs poking out.

  After turning our yaks around and heading back toward the park, we passed a couple of pairs of loud osprey by a nest. Fun fact: The osprey is one of the most widespread birds of prey and can be found on every continent except Antarctica. (National Geographic)

JB mesmerized by the Osprey

We passed by a serene view of sawgrass and a long dock with two chairs facing the water. In that moment I could easily close my eyes and picture an elderly couple quietly sitting by the water's edge together listening to the gentle sounds of nature whispering in their ears.

After our paddle, we walked along the nature trail to view the ruins of what was once East Florida's largest sugar mill plantation. Originally developed by Major Charles Wilhelm Bulow, the plantation cultivated crops of indigo, cotton, rice and sugar cane. His son, John Joachim Bulow, inherited the plantation upon his father's death in 1823. The State of Florida acquired the property in 1945 and designated it as a State Historic Park in 1957. It wasn't until September 1970 that is was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Built of coquina sedimentary rock.

The remnants of a storage house used as a cooler by utilizing the cold springwater that once bubbled beneath.

John James Audubon, an artist and naturalist, once visited Bulow Plantation in his quest for studying American birds. His painting of "Greater Yellow Legs," which was a part of his "Birds in America" series shows part of the Bulow Plantation in the background.

 

In 1831, John James Audubon visited the plantation and immortalized it in his painting of the Greater Yellowlegs as part of his Birds of America series. - See more at: http://audubonoffloridanews.org/?p=7311#sthash.E8ZtOSHG.dpuf

While walking and talking along the nature trail, we were startled by a very large snake which slithered directly in front of us. It stopped and we stopped, it turned its head toward us and then began to move forward into the woods. We just had a visit from an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake - one of the four venomous snakes found in Florida and the largest venomous snake in North America!!!!

In 1831, John James Audubon visited the plantation and immortalized it in his painting of the Greater Yellowlegs as part of his Birds of America series. - See more at: http://audubonoffloridanews.org/?p=7311#sthash.E8ZtOSHG.dpuf

Bulow Creek and Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park are truly hidden gems full of rich Florida history and well worth the trip to visit.