Lake Eaton Sinkhole Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Views · Wildlife

The trail starts at a parking area with primitive facilities and interpretive signs. Throughout, the trail is a generous singletrack with mostly sandy soil. The trail is shaded by tall sand pines, lower palmettos, and scrubs. Be on the lookout for spiderwebs spanning the trail.

At the sinkhole, the trail turns into a boardwalk. The descent into the sinkhole is easy (a little less than 200 steps) with an observation deck at the top and the bottom. The sinkhole is dry and has a wide range of vegetation different from that at the surface. Returning to the parking lot from the sinkhole is an easy 0.5 miles.

Using the cut-off, this trail is about a mile long. As shown here, it's 1.7 miles. It's easily combined with the Lake Eaton Loop Trail (2.1 miles) that starts across FR 79.

Spiders, lizards, various species of birds, and the occasional snake (rattlesnake or coral) can be found here. Ocala National Forest has an active bear population, so be bear aware.