When I was growing up, I had heard of the caverns at Marianna, Florida. I couldn't remember if I ever visited. Well, now I have!
The weather warmed a bit and we were able to ditch the jackets for a few days. There were geocaches along the trails in Florida Caverns State Park. We set off to find some of them as soon as we had set up camp. Florida Caverns was less than 30 miles from Three Rivers State Park.
The only wildlife we saw along the trails was this small gopher tortoise.
In the late 1930s this house was built for the manager of the National Fish Hatchery at Marianna. The hatchery failed after about 4 years, but the house is still in use today.
Bob and I walked the trail to the Chipola River.....
....which was flooded in places. We carefully found our way around the flooded trail.
This trillium was starting to bud when first arrived and by the time we left at the end of the week, it was in full bloom.
During one of our drives, we found Hinson Conservation and Recreation Area. It had a loop trail of about 4 miles with geocaches hidden along the entire trail.
One day we drove west to Falling Waters State Park.
It is home to Florida's only waterfall.
I have to say I was disappointed with Falling Waters SP. Most of the boardwalks and trails were closed for repair. Hopefully the next time we visit we will be able to see more of the park.
We used the warmer days to hike and saved our last day at Florida Caverns to tour the caverns as the weather was going to turn cold again.
We enjoyed the tour of the caverns and learned that unlike most other caverns in the U. S., no mishaps occurred while developing the caverns for visitors.
Alas, our trip to north Florida came to an end. It was time to head home and get ready for the big trip to Alaska!
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