Hontoon Island
Today we had a free day. What to do? We decided to go on a picnic and see something we had not seen before. There is a State Park near De Land called Hontoon Island. Exploring an island seemed like a good idea!
We drove up I-4 to the Deland exit and followed SR 44 to the turn off for Hontoon Island. We wove through an area of nice homes on leafy green canals to the parking lot. The sign said, “For ferry ride over to island please stand on boat dock”. Sure enough the little ferry was coming our way.
We saw some people fishing from the shore but no one else seemed to be having a picnic. We walked up the dock to the picnic ground and found a table. We were immediately the center of attention of the resident squirrel population. They appear used to people and picnics and came very close to us looking for lunch. They seem to have divided the territory as the one who arrived first drove off any other visitors.
We both had our cameras out and took pictures of life on the river as we sat there - a kayak, various boats and two airboats came by. After a good lunch, we stored the picnic cooler with the ranger and began our exploration.
There is a small museum at the opposite end of the building housing the ranger station and store. It was a good place to start. It explains the history of the island from the Indian settlement described through the archeological investigation to more modern times. Archival photographs of people arriving for a picnic o an earlier version of the ferry. The story of an undercover agent hiding here during the ‘30s investigating gang activities in Florida. An interesting film created by a local retired ranger that along with static displays, described the flora and fauna of this place.
Now that we had an overview of the island, we went out to find the start of the Nature trail. It was a lovely stroll with no other visitors. There was layer on layer of green in various shades that it was impossible to show in pictures. Live Oak, Saw Palmetto, Pine, Palm and Cypress share the island each taking the space best suited to its needs. It had rained recently so the normally brown Resurrection fern was leafy green on the sides of the old oaks.
We startled an Armadillo as we walked quietly down the path. That was a first for us as we see them more frequently as road kill. As we continued the walk we saw more of them. I came around a corner and startled one right in my path. The Armadillo and I both stopped to consider the situation before it moved off quickly but not so far away. With my telephoto I was able to get some very nice shots.
We stopped alongside the St. John River to take pictures of the Cypress trees and the Cypress knees that come up around them. At the same time a tour boat came along the guide was explaining about the Indian Midden that is an archeological sight on Hontoon Island. The apple snail shells have created a 40 foot hill on that end of the island. That is a lot of Potlatches!
We continued on to the trail’s end and found the snail shell mound he mentioned. Then it was time to turn around and head back to the dock. We enjoyed the return trip just as much. Seeing the surroundings from the reverse angle always shows up something new. More armadillo and a black racer snake!
We found our way back to the dock, retrieved our picnic cooler and took the little ferry back to the truck. A very pleasant day!
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