The number one question we are getting, whether by phone, email, or social media, is “are the trails wet?”
The answer is a resounding YES!
After such a dry end to our winter season, June brought us a refreshing dose of rain – over 20 inches. That’s a lot of rain!
And while it has meant a change in some of our visitor’s hiking plans, we are excited about the rain for a lot of reasons. The main reason is that, when you visit, you get to see our watershed at work.
The water that you see on the CREW Marsh Trails and Cypress Dome Trails is doing exactly what we want it to do – slowly move south through all of the vegetation on the CREW Project’s 60,000 acres, giving the water ample time to seep through the limestone and recharge our aquifer. And that means more water for us, the residents of Southwest Florida, and the plants and animals that call the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed home.
A Band-winged Dragonlet at the Cypress Dome Trails. Photographed by volunteer Dick Brewer.
We hope you’ll enjoy a few wet walks on our trails this summer and would love to see your pictures on our CREW Land & Water Trust Facebook Page! Or tag us on Instagram. See you on the trails!
The rains have started and the trails are glorious.
Greens are brighter and wildflowers are bolder. There’s a satisfying squish to the ground in some areas and traces of mud on our boots.
For many of us, the trails are a way to reconnect with nature. And for some others, the trails, and nature, are a source of inspiration.
Our Marsh trails are quiet this time of year as school is out and field trips are over. To honor the reflective quiet that many of our visitors experience or yearn for, we’ve started an inspiration board and we hope to fill it with everything from quotes to works of art to poems.
And we want to hear from you. Submit your CREW-inspired works of art and we’ll share them on social media and at our Inspiration kiosk at the Marsh Trails.
We weren’t leading a program, or assisting on a field trip. We weren’t removing invasive plants or trimming back brush around trail signs.
We were scouting the Marsh trails, trying to devise a different way to mark them other than names on signs. We scheduled ourselves to be out of the office for the morning on and headed out and just walked.
But by the end, though, it was more than a walk.
I’m not sure if you experience this but for me, getting out on the trails leaves me feeling rooted. Grounded.
Walking with someone and sharing that experience, the feeling of just being that you get when you get outside, it fosters conversations. And if you are alone, it makes for great conversation inside your head.
So what was unique today?
As we rounded the bend on the Pine Flatwoods trail, we saw mud.
MUD. GLORIOUS MUD.
Why did that mud make us so excited, so giddy?
Because that means our water is coming back. That means that water is flowing south and if we are seeing it at the Marsh trails, it will slowly make its way through the Corkscrew Marsh and on down to Bird Rookery Swamp. Rainy season is whispering its arrival, teasing us with a few showers here and there as the humidity creeps up.
We’re ready to recharge.
We read and say, all the time, that we need water to recharge our aquifer.
Being out there, though, and really seeing it – that’s something completely different. As we walked and we had actual stretches of water to walk around, there was this feeling of anticipation. Not just within myself, but all around. As if everything, from the sawgrass to the trees to the wildflowers, was holding its breath, ready and waiting for those beautiful afternoon thunderstorms to sweep through and bring growth, renewal.
In a way, May is not just a recharging time for the lands within the CREW Project, but a way for us to recharge as well. Our busy season is over, traffic is lighter and as the temperatures creep up, everyone slows down.
Today was just one of those rare days when sunshine, good company, a nice breeze and little bit of mud were the the prefect combination to leave us feeling grounded, rooted and a bit recharged.
Want to see this what we saw today? At the Marsh Trails, take the Pine Flatwoods trail to the Alternative Marsh Loop, to the Observation Tower, then out to the Popash Slough.
We do need a lot more rain, but it does feel nice to see the water slowly making its return.
National Walking Day is the first Wednesday in April, and the CREW trails are a great place to get out and walk, no matter what your fitness level may be. Check out our suggestions for a few spots to celebrate with some fresh air and sunshine.
CREW Marsh Trails
Location: 4600 Corkscrew Road (CR 850), Immokalee, FL 34142. Approximately 20 minutes east of I-75.
Cost: Free; donations accepted
Difficulty: Easy
Wear: Closed toed shoes and socks
Bring: Water, snacks, binoculars and cameras
Take a stroll on wide, hard-packed, mowed trails to the observation tower, where you can view the 6000 acre sawgrass marsh that helps clean the water that flows south and replenishes our aquifer. On the way to the tower, you will travel through pine flatwoods and an oak hammock. You may see butterflies, dragonflies, swallow tailed kites, red shouldered hawks, palm warblers, gopher tortoises and wildflowers in bloom. Approximate distance: 1.4 miles to the tower and back to the parking lot.
Cypress Dome Trails
Location: 3980 Corkscrew Road (CR 850), Immokalee, FL 34142. Approximately 15 minutes east of I-75.
Cost: Free; donations accepted
Difficulty: Medium
Wear: Closed toed shoes and socks
Bring: Water, snacks, binoculars and cameras
Start on the yellow loop from the parking lot and follow it around to the green loop. You’ll walk through pine flatwoods, cypress domes and you can stop to rest on a small bench overlooking one of our seasonal marshes. The end of the green loop takes you past Jim’s Pavilion, a great spot to sit and enjoy a snack or lunch. You may see butterflies, red shouldered hawks, wildflowers, warblers, woodpeckers, yellow rat snakes and box turtles. Approximate distance: 2.4 miles; if the distance is too much, use one of the two blue short cut trails.
Become a “Looper” and hike the entire loop at Bird Rookery Swamp! You’ll walk on wide, grassy raised trams and share the trail with wildlife, including alligators, otters, banded water snakes, red bellied turtles, barred owls, roseate spoonbills, egrets and more. Approximate distance: 13 miles; if the distance is too much, head back to the parking lot before you begin to feel tired. The loop may take six or more hours; it is very important to bring food and water with you and to check your energy levels often to determine if you can make the full loop or not. as there are no shortcut trails.
One of the most common questions I hear, either on the phone or on the trails, is “What will we see?” or “Which trail is best to see wildlife?”
Red-shouldered hawks at CREW Marsh Trails
The answers: Sadly, we can’t predict what you will see and, all three trails are different.
Bird Rookery Swamp is our most visited trail system, and for good reason. You can walk less than a mile and see alligators, wading birds and the occasional otter or bobcat. Sightings of alligators are almost guaranteed.
This means that, when choosing a trail system to visit, people often overlook Cypress Dome Trails or CREW Marsh Trails.
A large alligator at Cypress Dome Trails
There are alligators at the Cypress Dome Trails, but you’ve got a pretty long hike if you want to see them. At the CREW Marsh Trails, people seem to think that bears, boars, bobcats and panthers will be out there all day, just strolling by. And, if they don’t see large animals, there is disappointment, a feeling that is sometimes vocalized as “We didn’t see anything.”
For me, the marsh trails are my favorite. It’s the first trail system I visited, and the first trail system I worked as a volunteer. It’s the first trail system Brenda took myself and my three kids to during their Spring Break a few years ago. It’s the trail system that my youngest daughter loves to hike and my oldest loves to go trail running.
What do we see there?
Everything.
Butterflies, dragonflies, red shouldered hawks, palm warblers, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, a giant beehive, lubber grasshoppers, wildflowers and, right now, swallow-tailed kites. And that is only a small fraction of the flora and fauna that is there.
Two of our volunteers, Jane and Laurel, recently spent a day cataloging all of the plants, birds, dragonflies and butterflies they saw at CREW Marsh Trails. It’s a great example of how much is there on the trails, so much more than bears or boars or panthers or alligators.
Feb. 2 CREW Marsh Trails Observations from Jane Wallace and Laurel Rhodes
ButterfliesBirds
White Peacock, 30+ Cardinal
Pearl Crescent, 30+ White eyed Vireo
Carolina Wren
Phaon Crescent, 30+ Cat bird
Black Swallowtail, 3 Common Yellow Throat
Ceraunus Blue, 1 Red Shouldered Hawk
Monarch, 1 Great Egret
Barred Yellow, 2 Dragonflies
Great Southern White, 3 Pond hawk, female
Gulf Fritillary, 3
Zebra longwings at CREW Marsh Trails
Flowering plant lists:
Non-native
Caesar weed, Urena lobata
Chocolateweed, Melochia corchorifolia
Red Tasselflower, Emilia fosbergii
White headed broom, Spermacoce verticillata
Native plants
American bluehearts, Buchnera americana
Blackroot, Pterocaulon pycnostachyum
Blue mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum
Blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium sp.
Carolina wild petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis
Carolina wild petunia at CREW Marsh Trails
Carolina willow, Salix caroliniana
Chapman’s goldenrod, Solidago odora var. chapmanii
For the last two weeks, the CREW Trust staff and FWC biologists have been anxiously watching the skies.
Why?
It’s Swallow-tailed Kite time.
photo credit: Dick Brewer
Reports trickled in from our volunteers. Jayne posted on Facebook that she saw kites during a hike with students from FGCU on the Marsh Trails . Peggy sent us an email that she saw two at the observation tower at the same trails and they were “calling like crazy!”
I led a small group of volunteers through trail steward training on Sunday and kept one eye on the sky but still, no sightings.
Swallow-tailed kites come to SWFL to breed and are always spotted mid-February, right around Valentine’s Day. Sightings are not limited to our trails, but the birds do require tall trees for nesting and tend to choose open pinewoods near marshes or cypress swamps as their habitat.
photo credit: Dick Brewer
In other words, CREW is great breeding spot for them.
The kites will be here until late August. If you’re eager to spot one or two, head out to Cypress Dome Trails (3980 Corkscrew Road) or CREW Marsh Trails (4600 Corkscrew Road) and keep your eyes on the skies!
It’s almost March and we are nearing the end of our seasonal program schedule. If you haven’t reserved a spot on one of our guided walks or were waiting to purchase a ticket for a Strolling Science Seminar, check out our final program offerings and sign up today!
Join Dr. David Cooper, Florida Certified Master Naturalist, for a guided walk along the marsh trails. You’ll learn about wildflowers, dragonflies, the importance of the sawgrass marsh and the history of the 60,000 acre CREW Project. Reservations required; visit eventbrite.com.
Zebra longwings at CREW Marsh Trails
CREW Bird Rookery Swamp Guided Walks
Dates: February 25, 28; March 1, 2, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 30; April 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 19, 22, 25, 26.
You don’t have to walk very far to see wildlife on this trail! Join one of four volunteer naturalists for a guided walk down our boardwalk and onto a wide grassy trail offering views of the swamp on both sides. You’ll learn about the swamp, the CREW Project, the importance of water and all of the wildlife along the trails, including alligators and wading birds. Reservations required; visit eventbrite.com.
photo by volunteer Bill Zaino
Birding with the Master – Bernie Master
Date: March 11
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket eventbrite.com. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
This hike is for the birds! Learn about winter residents and CREW nesters as well as what birds are using this valuable habitat and why.
An internationally recognized conservationist, Dr. Bernie Master has a Birding Life List that includes over three-quarters of the world’s bird species, in excess of 7,700 birds. He is the first American to see a representative of every bird family in the world. He was honored by HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands for his contribution to conservation. A previously unrecorded songbird in Colombia, Vireo masteri, the Choco Vireo, is named for his family and the discovery published in IBIS, October 1996.
Ovenbird, photographed by Dr. Bernie Master
SSS: Murder, Mutualism and Medicine
Date: March 18
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Join the CREW Trust and Dr. Maureen Bonness for a stroll along the CREW trails, where Dr. Bonness will use local plants to discuss the topic of plant natural products – a plant “language” generally inaudible to humans, yet with profound effects on interactions between plants and their swamp co-inhabitants. The primary focus is the role of plant natural products in swamp ecology, with an undertone of how people use these chemicals, sometimes nefariously.
Spring Wildflower Walk
Date: April 1
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $5 for members, $10 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Join FGCU instructor and wildflower expert Brenda Thomas for this fabulous walk to identify wildflowers and grasses along the trails. The spring flowers are always spectacular after the dry winter season. This is your chance to learn from someone whose passion for plants is unsurpassed!
Nature Walk for Families
Date: April 8
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $5 per family for members, $10 per family for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Come join CREW for a fun family walk in the woods with activities that will get you dirty, inspire you and engage all your senses. This is a great opportunity for families new to the CREW trails to learn from a naturalist and become familiar with the family-friendly trails. You’ll learn about the CREW project and why it is important along with learning about the flora and fauna that call the trail systems home.
SSS: Making Wildlife Observations Count
Date: April 29
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Join Dr. John Herman for this hands-on strolling science seminar where you will learn how to turn your love of hiking into something more. On this hike, you’ll see how your every day observations can be turned into scientific data and used to help conserve wildlife.
Christmas is just days away and, once the wrapping paper settles and the cookies disappear, it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. We’ve got a few ideas for last minute holiday gifts and ways to make 2017 the best year yet.
Give the gift of guided walks
Our guided walks are free, but the knowledge of our volunteer leaders is highly valuable. Sign yourself up and head to Bird Rookery Swamp for two hours of George’s or Bobby’s stories or go out with Dr. David Cooper for a tour of CREW Marsh Trails. Better yet, sign up a friend. Guided walks are a great way to build confidence in new CREW visitors, and that confidence level increases the chances that they will return to explore more of the trails.
Share nature with kids and grandkids
The electronic hatching egg everyone is clamoring for will only engage kids for so long, and by New Year’s Day, it will be forgotten in a pile of toys. Memories last much longer, so give the gift of time and take your kids or grandkids out to your favorite trail.
The going may be slower as they stop to see every tiny flower or search for animal tracks, but it’s the memories that count, not the miles. And if they ask a question and you don’t know the answer, give them homework and tell them to google it, then get back to you with the answer.
If you are looking for a way to wrap up that idea, make a coupon for one guided hike with Nana or Uncle Todd (insert your name) and give it with a field guide or binoculars or kid-sized hiking stick. (Hint hint, we sell those at the CREW office).
They’ll talk for years about seeing one-eyed Ida and completely forget about whatever game they got for their NintendoDS.
This holiday season, hit the trails with friends and family and help us spread our mission of protecting and preserving our watershed.
Honor a loved one
While Christmas and New Year’s is a time of celebration, it can also be a time of reflection for those that have lost loved ones and friends this year.
Consider making a donation to CREW as a way to memorialize a grandparent who first introduced you to birding or always remember a sun-filled day when you spent the morning identifying butterflies with your visiting best friend.
New Year, new you
The top New Year’s resolution each year is fitness. Gym memberships surge and by mid-February, everyone is back to their old habits.
At CREW, we’ve got a great way for you to get active and stay active all year long: volunteer as a Trail Steward.
After a short training session, you’ll have a snazzy blue volunteer shirt and be ready to hit the trails, acting as an ambassador for CREW and answering questions as you stroll your favorite trail system. There are no set hours; we just ask that you wear your volunteer shirt when you go hiking, then log your volunteer hours when you get home.
You’ll not only stay committed to your resolution, but you’ll be sharing your love and passion with others while helping CREW continue our mission of protecting and preserving our watershed. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!
In a few weeks, the CREW Marsh Trails will get more exciting. Winter is the CREW Trust’s premier time for guided walks and this includes field trips of all kind. So, don’t be alarmed if you drive out to the Marsh Trails and see a group for a guided hike, 120 third graders or a class of college students.
The CREW Marsh Trails opened in 1994, and since then we have been expanding and enhancing our education programs for all ages.
Guided hikes:Dr. David Cooper will present his enjoyable and informative walk every second and fourth Tuesday and the second Saturday of each month at 9:00AM.
3rd Grade Field Trips:Collier County third graders come to CREW to take a “Walk through the Watershed” where they spend time dip-netting, getting to know where their water comes from, and the importance of protecting the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed.
College Field Trips: Students take a walk through the five beautiful ecosystems that the Marsh Trails have to offer while exploring the concepts of sustainability, sense of place and interdisciplinary connections to our environment.
As part of our mission to protect the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, these educational programs are important to developing support for the watershed and engaging people in its protection.
So, the next time you go out to the CREW Marsh trails on a weekday, you might run into many people learning about the wonders of this 60,000-acre watershed. If you would like to join them, check out our programs and register in advance by clicking here.
Ready, set, go! Guided Hike season is almost upon us. The CREW Trust has outdone itself again. This coming season’s programs are over the top!
Starting in November and continuing through the end of April 2017, the CREW Trust volunteers will be presenting over 14 free guided walks each month! Come on out and take a walk with one of your old favorites or one of our new guides. If you’ve never walked with us, then makes plans to do it right away. You won’t regret it.
CREW Marsh Trails – Dr. David Cooper will present his enjoyable and informative walk every second and fourth Tuesday and the second Saturday of each month at 9:00AM.
Dr. David is the Dean of the CREW Trust guides and one of its charter volunteers. He is a wealth of knowledge and a very entertaining guide. A morning with Dr. David will change the way you think about the CREW Marsh.
CREW Bird Rookery Swamp – Bobby McLoughlin will be guiding his walk the second and fourth Tuesday and the fourth Saturday each month at 9:00AM. Every Wednesday at 9:00AM, George Luther and Bob Melin will conduct their walk.
During January through April, on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 1:30PM (notethe afternoon starting time, please), Jeff and Pauline Suss will lead their walk.
From February through, and including, April 13th., at 9:00AM, Chrissy Podos and Dr. Jack Shine will conduct their walks. Chrissy will lead on: 2/2, 2/16, 3/2, 3/23, and 4/6. Dr. Jack will lead on: 2/9, 2/23, 3/9/, 3/16, 3/30, and 4/13.
Each of these guides interpret the trail in their own style. Each has their own areas of expertise and each provides a remarkable experience. Bird Rookery Swamp was again been recognized by TripAdvisor with a Certificate of Excellence for 2016.
All of these hikes are free because of the generosity of the CREW Trust members. Donations are gratefully accepted. Registration is required for these walks. Further information can be found at CREWTrust.org.
