Triple N Ranch Hike (Holopaw FL)

Triple N Ranch Wildlife Management Area was once part of the last large, open area where cattle roamed free in the United States. Open range ranching continued in Florida until 1949, when the Florida Legislature passed a law requiring cattle to be fenced. The rugged Florida cow, a small, bony, long-horned descendant of Spanish cattle,
was able to survive heat, bugs and the poor forage of the rural central Florida palmetto prairie.

The 8,893-acre Triple N Ranch was acquired by FWC and the St. Johns River Water Management District using Save Our Rivers funds and partly appropriated from Preservation 2000 bonds. Portions of the Triple N Ranch property were acquired in November 1994 and the main tract was established by FWC in July, 1995 as Triple N Ranch Wildlife Management Area.

Walk along the Loop Road and you may spot a gopher tortoise or its burrow near the road’s edge. Woodpeckers, including the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, are commonly spotted in the pine flatwoods. Look aloft for swallow-tailed kites and in the prairies, fields, and along marsh edges for sandhill cranes. Fall wildflowers attract numerous butterflies.

Numerous shady hammocks provide a welcome respite from the sun and a quiet observer may see white-tailed deer or wild turkeys. The hammocks and creek edges are ideal spots to look for migratory birds in the spring and fall.