Take a Hike Through Shrinking Alafia Scrub in Gibsonton

Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve, Gibsonton

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What do you do in Gibsonton? It was there that I had already found two of the three key ingredients needed for a destination spot. We had secured spots for vittles and entertainment. An activity was needed to complete the trio and I found it: a hike in Gibsonton wilderness at The Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve.

Gibsonton has several great places to eat including A.J.’s on the River and The River’s Edge.  The Riverview 14 movie theater offers endless new things to see and there’s also a carnival museum across the Alafia. A spot to hike would add a fun physical activity to the mix—an even payoff for burgers, beer, and popcorn.

What a great way to spend the day: a hike through the shrinking scrub and aquatic hammock of the Alafia River, lunch or dinner with a few drinks on the breezy banks of the river, followed by a relaxing movie in the air-conditioned theater across the street. Additionally, everything was within a few minutes of each other and all were relatively inexpensive (the hike is free of charge).

I have been toying with an idea that I call the Triumvirate of Fun-virate (I’m not married to that name). The gist of which being that there are three components to a good day trip: 1) something to see, 2) something to eat, and 3) something to do—a sight, a bite, and an activity.

I’m also very sad there isn’t a synonym for the word “activity” that rhymes with sight and bite. Maybe “rite”, but then this triumvirate thing starts to seem a bit cultish and rite is more of a routine or ceremony, so… I’m getting off track here.

I made my case to Christa and she agreed to join me on a mid-morning hike. We set out for Gibsonton in the sporty little runabout without delay.

Somewhere on Gibsonton Road between Route 301 and Route I-75 is a side road called Hagadorn that leads back to the Alafia River. At Elbow Bend road, a dead end sign warns about entering the last leg of the road. That’s okay because immediately to your left is the paddock parking area of Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve. We pulled in alongside another vehicle, I slung my camera and water bottle over my shoulders and we set off.

I did zero research on this Alafia Scrub. I saw it on the map and thought I’d see if it had potential as a regular light hiking spot. It was only a 1.5-mile easy loop with the usual Florida elevation of nil, carved out of a piece of land between the main road and a lane of riverfront McMansions. Consequently, I didn’t even bring a basic pack with first aid kit or bug spray. It was just the two of us on a backyard stroll.

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Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve
10243 Elbow Bend Road
Riverview, FL 33578
Hours: Sunrise to Sunset
Phone: (813) 672-7876
Fees: Free
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/locations/alafia-scrub-nature-preserve

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A bulletin board beyond the gate displayed the usual “Warning,” “Posted,” and “Contacts” signs including a map of the park and trails. By trails, I mean the single loop of the main red trail and the blue trail that runs through the short center of the park. Blue trail acts as a wide firebreak path and a shortcut in case you’re feeling less perambulatory.

Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve looked fairly basic. Naturally, with a glance and a breath, I set off to the right and my wife set off to the left. Imagine that we were connected by a rubber band and it would have been the stuff of slapstick legend. I proclaimed we go to the right because reasons and we began our hike around the perimeter. 

The trail was stick-straight, hugging the post-and-wire fence along Elbow Bend Road with a twist or two over a tiny creek and large tree. I quickly regretted my leaving the pack at home. The winter honeymoon was over; the mosquitos had returned in force after a few days of moderate rain. Bug spray would be useful.

I was lagging behind snapping pictures while wifey shot ahead. The trail seemed okay, but not great so far. It was a lot of leafy vegetation, no wildlife, and too much view of the residences to our right. Eh, it was just a morning stroll. At a point of not even a half mile in, I glimpsed my wife ahead of me, standing with arms crossed. I thought she might have spotted some wildlife so I walked up smiling, “What’s up?”

“Where do we go now?”

“It should be just a left, I guess.”

I spun a circle in the clearing looking for the rest of the path. No dice. It was a dead end. I pulled out my phone and consulted the map. Sure enough, I had made a mistake. We had been following a maintenance path cut along the perimeter. 

Had we started in the direction my wife had intended, we would have come to the real trailhead about two hundred feet from the gate. So, we doubled back and at the Blue trail and veered right until we saw came to a wood post with a red tip. A white diamond declared it 1, and we turned right, picking up the true path.

This was more like it and I could admit when I was wrong—alone in the woods. Christa took the lead. The trail was narrow, but well defined and wound around palmetto, pine, and oak. Fern, vines, and grasses narrowed the path. At a bend, my wife pointed out oranges high in the canopy.

Oranges—hanging from the trees in the wild. Can you tell we’re northerners yet? I gingerly ventured off the path only to realize they were much too high to reach. I glanced around the ground and glimpsed some bright orange amongst the muddy browns and greens. Two seemed fresh and intact. Wiping them off, I looked for teeth marks. There were none and they were heavy but soft. I pocketed them to try at home.

We moved on. Swallowtails fluttered about, a coiled centipede rested here, a slithering snake tail pulled into the underbrush there. The recent rains left the sandy trails soft and the leaves and debris damp. This was very nice for silencing our steps and preventing us from scaring off wildlife before catching a glimpse. Damp sand became pooling footsteps as the scrub yielded to the wetlands.

Soon, a strip of blue could be seen on our right. We came to a boardwalk jutting over the Alafia River and walked out to the end. On both sides, the tall grasses swirled around the pilings and swept along the shoreline amongst the water oak and pop ash trees.

The view is pleasant even with the I-75 bridge, homes, piers, boathouses, and powerlines. Hydric hammock makes up the treeline behind us. Grasses and tidal marsh make up the foreground.

We returned to the trail and continued on. My wife’s eagle eyes and fear of getting bit made her an excellent spotter of snakes. I snapped a few pics of fleeting tails and one loosely coiled fella catching some rays.

There were plenty of birds in the trees making pleasant music but hidden from view in the dense canopy. Most of the rustles and snaps were from squirrels and anoles. Lizards and rodents alike rustled through the brown oak leaves under bright green fern fronds.

The cloud-diffused sunlight shifted to bright rays that cast an ever-changing hue through the canopy. They revealed vivid aspects with emerald pockets of bracken, russet crispy oak leaves, and silvery clumps of moss.

Excepting the hydric hammock on the riverside, the rest of the Preserve seems to be primarily oak and hardwood hammock. I’m no expert on Florida ecology and am only just learning about all the various types of landscape. Still, it seems that scrub is the least represented of the types here in the Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve.

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In researching, I found this master plan on the preserve from the Hillsborough County website wherein I learned:

“The key feature of the Preserve is the natural vegetative communities which it contains, the majority of which are uplands, and especially the remnant scrub in the southeast corner. This area is all that is left of a much larger scrub ridge which extended to the west for more than a mile. The scrub and adjacent pine flatwoods support several listed species, including the Florida golden aster and gopher tortoise. The remainder of the site is predominantly pine flatwoods, which have become overgrown with hardwood tree species due to lack of fire (emphasis added). Other plant communities present include mixed oak and pine forest, hydric hammock, and tidal marsh. A small tributary stream flows northward across the western half of the site to the river. The area immediately surrounding the site has been developed as low-density residential, and there are no other significant blocks of natural upland habitat, or unaltered shoreline habitat, within several miles of the site.”

So there we have it. The scrub portion and pine flats are being overgrown by the oaks and palmetto due to lack of controlled burnings. It’s likely that the proximity to residences and businesses make the practice of controlled burns too dangerous to utilize. I suppose in a few years the scrub portion will be all but obliterated. They’ll just have to change the name from Alafia Scrub to Alafia Oaks and Palmetto Nature Preserve.

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We followed the trail past the giant numbered matchsticks that marked our path.  As we reached the 0 marker post I had decided Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve Hiking Trail was just right.  It offered the perfect length for a casual stroll through undisturbed nature with little difficulty.

The views and features are nice, though it’s nothing spectacular. Then again, it isn’t meant to be. Alafia Scrub is a pleasant walk in (relatively) unadulterated nature. It’s well suited for those who want to get some air and sun, but want to avoid paved paths and jungle gyms. Moreover, the 1.5 miles are easy to those of average stamina. The hike can be shortened significantly by taking the Blue trail. Though you’ll miss the wetlands and Alafia River by doing so.

I do believe we’ve found our third triumvir of fun. Alafia Scrub makes a great complement to the other Gibsonton offerings. A morning (or afternoon) hike followed by lunch (or dinner) on the river and finished with a movie is an easy recipe for an enjoyable day.

We said goodbye to the Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve, lowered our windows, opened the sunroof and drove off into the noon sun. We were now on a search for lunch. No, not in Gibsonton. It turns out that the place I wanted to try wasn’t open that day. Instead, we’ll try The Latin Grill as it’s on our way home. Stay tuned for that review.

Thanks for reading!