Florida Guide > State Parks
Bulow Creek State Park and Historic Plantation House.
Florida’s State Parks cover a massive 700, 000 acres, approximately the size of England’s Peak National Park plus Exmoor and Dartmoor. As there are over 160 state parks to visit in Florida, each with its own special charm and beauty, it would take the average tourist a long, long time to see them all. I would guess that the average Floridian will probably never visit them all either.
Bulow Creek State Park is in Volusia County and is located off the Old Dixie Highway in Ormond Beach, which in turn is about ten miles north of Daytona Beach.
The park is the home to one of largest surviving areas of Southern Live Oak and features the Fairchild Oak, one of the largest oaks in the Southern United States. These oak trees have stood for over four hundred years, surviving the Second Seminole War of 1836 that was responsible for the destruction of the nearby Bulow Plantation. If you have ever wondered why it is referred to as ‘live’ oak, it is because this species never loses all its leaves and so in winter still appears to be ‘alive’ as opposed to ‘dead’ or dormant.
A walk on any of the several trails through the park will more than likely enable visitors to see some of the white-tailed deer and maybe even a racoon or two. The park’s main trail, the Bulow Woods Trail, takes visitors to Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park.
Until 1836 the Bulow family grew rice, cotton, indigo and sugar cane, but the Second Seminole War left the plantation in ruins. Today visitors can still wander amongst the ruins of the former plantation including the crumbling foundations of the plantation house and slave cabins plus a unique spring house and several wells. A scenic walking trail leads visitors to the sugar mill ruins, listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. The park has picnic facilities and a visitor center that houses exhibits which tell the history of the plantation.
Bulow Creek Sate Park is open from 8 a. m. until sunset 365 days a year, while Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park is open 9 a. m. to 5 a. m. Thursday to Monday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park is located three miles west of Flagler Beach on C. R. 2001, south of SR 100, should you wish to drive directly to it rather than take the trail from Bulow Creek State Park.
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