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THE PARK
Hardy Bryan Croom, a planter
and naturalist of some renown, began amassing land in northern
Florida in the 1820s and in 1833 purchased 640 acres of the Lafayette
Land Grant for what would become Goodwood Plantation. While exploring
from his cotton plantation, Croom discovered one of the rarest
conifers in the world along the banks of the Apalachicola River.
He named the small evergreen "torreya" after the botanist
Dr. John Torrey.
It would turn out the torreya was native to only five other spots
in the world - one in California, four in Japan and China, and
on the bluffs of the Apalachicola. Croom's own botanical career
would be cut short in 1837 when he perished with 89 others aboard
the S.S. Home off the coast of Cape Hatteras in the Racer's Storm,
one of the most destructive hurricanes of the 19th century.
During the Great Depression, workers in President Franklin Roosevelt's
"Tree Army," the Civilian Conservation Corps, developed
the park.
WALKS
On the way to nowhere, your dog
will thank you for making the special trip to Torreya State Park.
This is the best one-hour workout your dog can get in Northwest
Florida, hiking across terrain more familiar in Appalachian foothills.
Indeed, the mix of hardwoods thriving at the various elevations
in the park conspire to whip up Florida's best display of autumn
colors.
There are two hiking loops at Torreya, each about seven miles
around. Along the Apalachicola River the Rock Bluff Trail dips
and rolls through ravines with some climbs that may set your
dog to panting. Several park roads and connecting trails can
be used to dissect this loop into manageable chunks.
That is not the case with the Torreya Challenge in the eastern
section of the park. Once you cross the stone bridge with your
dog you won't see the trailhead again for several hours. Your
dog will think she has left Florida on this scenic ramble.
BONUS
The Apalachicola River, Florida's
largest, was a vital transportation link throughout the 1800s.
During the Civil War, this critical passage was guarded by a
six smoothbore cannon located on Rock Bluff. You can still see
remains of the gun pits as you work across the Rock Bluff Trail.
The Gregory House that now dominates the bluff once stood across
the river at Ocheesee. It was built in 1849 by Jason Gregory,
the dominant planter in Calhoun County and a popular rendevous
spot for Confederate troops. After the war the plantation fell
into disrepair and when the park was being developed it was disassembled,
carried across the Apalachicola on barges and restored.
DIRECTIONS
To reach Rock Bluff; use Exit 174 off I-10 and head south on
SR 12. Turn right on CR 1641 and continue to the park entrance
at the end.
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