The Historic Jungle Trail, Florida

The Historic Jungle Trail, located between Sebastian inlet and Wabasso beach is a unique drivable stretch of unpaved road that offers walkers, bikers, motorists and golf carts a unique view of both Florida’s past and present. Historical landmarks and a bit of untouched native Florida, it is a 7 mile stretch of Florida worth visiting. But if you go, you could easily miss some of the areas rich history. Check it out! Entering the trail from the north your first stop is birds impoundment Trail. This 3 mile hiking trail gives you an up close and personal look at Florida’s Intracoastal habitats. But we We ain’t doing no hiking today. Just jeeping, doors off, windows off. Your next stop, if you so choose to disembark your vehicle, is the Pelican Island Viewing area. In 1903, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge was the first wildlife refuge established in the United States. And this scruffy looking dude, Paul Kroeger, was named the warden by Teddy Roosevelt. His homestead was just across the Indian River Lagoon on the mainland side. He was serious about it and was known to fire warning shots at anyone attempting to fire on, or harass the nesting birds. I can’t help but wonder how he managed to befriend this young pelican. The protected areas include Pelican, Roosevelt, Roseate, and Melbe Islands. We didn’t walk the trail out to the viewing area, but we did stop to check out this tree with the alien looking parasitic plant wrapped around it. Creepy As you approach the Lagoon you leave the relatively dry Florida shrub habitat and begin entering shoreline and mangrove habitat. Even though the air temp is the same, it really begins to feel cooler. Shrub to Mangroves give way to taller palms , oaks and pine forest. Its Summer in Florida and a hot one at that, We like the shade. You hit the first signs of civilization midway along the trail. The jungle trail cuts between beautiful riverfront homes, golf courses and country clubs. We’re panning the camera around here cause this is the section you can spot Florida Blue Land Crabs. They were once all over central Florida but most have been crunched on major roads along the coast. This is one of the few places you can still see them. Although its midday, best time to see them is at night or early morning, late evening. Cicadas: Turns out my 9 yr old’s keen ears picked up on something pretty amazing. Jeeping is awesome, doors off windows off, all the sites sounds…and well smells. We smelled something pretty raunchy. Turns out it was this dudes lunch. Then, out of nowhere, then out of nowhere, it all changed. Water!!. Wait, we in SOUTH BEACH? Nope, its Central Florida A dude named Captain Frank Forster was a German immigrant who ran away at an early age and sailed around the world and ended up buying up a bunch of land northeast of the Wabasso Bridge. He built his first home,, established a post office, and docked his vessel called the ‘Dood’. One of the first developers in the region, First citrus groves were established between 1884 and 1886. All this and other major regional developments were possible because of the Flagler railroad which we’ll dive more into in future vids. As we were approaching Jones Pier, there were some fellow jeepers in the road, looking at something. Turns out there was a young Osprey, apparently injured, unable to fly. We stopped, called FWC and bounced between various automated messages. Luckily a local cop was on duty, had already called his buddy at FWC and had someone in route. Hope this young bird gets back to fishing soon. Richard Milton Jones and his family settled in the area in the late 1800s. They established the first commercial dock in the area, selling all kinds of goods including shrimp, supplies and citrus fruit. The winter beach bridge opened in 1924 and was one of only two ways to get from the islands to the mainland in Indian River County. The bridge tender along with his wife and kids lived in a small home on this side of the bridge and managed the swinging bridge to allow pedestrians, cars and boats to pass