Hiking Arbuckle Tract – Lake Wales Ridge State Forest
Arbuckle Tract - Lake Wales Ridge State Forest
Arbuckle tract is in the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest, located Polk County, Florida. The address is 1577 Rucks Dairy Rd, Frostproof, FL 33843. I believe this is the campsite area address.
The tract has over 23 miles of hiking trails. The longest is the Paula Dockery Trail which is a large loop around most of the tract.
Hiking in the tract is mostly open with very little shade. Ecosystems are described as scrub, sandhill, dry prairie and cutthroat seeps. We hiked during the winter and it was pretty dry but there were areas that were damp and looked as though during rainy months would be under water.
The trail was easy to hike with a few areas of sugar sand to navigate. The signage was very well kept and easy to follow. It appears to be a low traffic trail.
We drove around the tract before leaving to see what else was there. We visited the Lake Godwin day use and dock. It was a SMALL recreation area with a picnic table and fire ring with attached grill. It also has a small dock with a gate at the end apparently to allow for launching of kayaks and canoes. People appear to have also been launching off the side of the dock. It is a very small lake with a healthy lily pad population.
We also took a drive around McLean Cabin day use area. This is a loop road used for checking animals when hunting. There is also a large picnic area with several tables and we decided to have lunch here. There is a small 1 mile nature walk in the back although we didn’t have the time to walk it.
All in all, Arbuckle Tract seems to consist mostly of scrub, pine and prairie type hiking. It is mostly open hiking and I would consider it more for winter, spring or fall ( cooler weather) hiking. It is a pretty area and we plan to be back soon.