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Ocala National Forest
Florida's sand pine scrub and spring-fed forest, the oldest in the East
Ocala National Forest is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi, established in 1908, and one of the strangest. Its heart is the Big Scrub, the world's largest contiguous stand of sand pine scrub, a forest of short, crooked pines and evergreen oaks growing on ancient dune ridges in central Florida. The scrub is adapted to fire and to almost no soil nutrients, and it shelters the threatened Florida scrub-jay, a bird found only in Florida. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings set her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling in this country.
The forest spans about 383,000 acres (1,550 km²) between the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers. Its springs are the main draw. Alexander Springs and Silver Glen Springs are first-magnitude springs, each pouring out more than 64 million gallons (242 million liters) a day of clear water that stays near 72°F (22°C) year-round, and Juniper and Salt springs are popular swimming holes. Hundreds of lakes and ponds dot the sandhills. In a fenced corner, the Navy's Pinecastle Range is used for bombing practice, a reminder that even protected forests serve many purposes.