Cypress Creek Preserve
Posted in Boondocking on January 13, 2016 Last Updated on March 19, 2016
Our second Florida boondocking location for the winter was Cypress Creek Preserve. When we arrived, we were the only campers in the area – which is always a plus. Our fist thought was that the large Palmetto Bushes provided a nice seclusion that was lacking at Alston Tract. Once we chose our spot, at the very back of the camping area, we began checking out the port-o-john and other amenities.
Where Alston Tract had a fresh, clean port-o-john, Cypress Creek Preserve looks as though it has not been cleaned out in a long, long time. There was a large mound in the toilet, paper scattered around on the floor, and the maintenance sheet showed no indication of the unit being cleaned in about two months.
The preserve backs up to a neighborhood and is frequented by hikers and bikers. We had to assume some occasional partying goes on as well, as their were beer cans and bottles in some areas of the woods and in the fire pits. We also found waste paper in the Palmetto Bush near our camper.
The area in general is really pretty, though, and is definitely worth a stay. It doesn’t take long to pick up a bit after the previous campers, and you have a nice spot.
For those who need it, there is not a water pump at this location. Occasional planes are flying over, but they are high enough up to not be a problem.
Most of our stay was pretty quiet. We heard some owls in the distance, and possibly a coyote or two. The coolest thing we noticed, was hundreds, if not thousands, of little glowing dots around the outskirts of our camp.
If you look closely at the photo, you will see various white dots. Those are Wolf Spider Eyes reflecting back the light.
On Saturday, though, the locals arrived in their large, diesel pickups. One of their first tasks upon arriving, was to speed up and down the horse trails, where they located a tree they wanted, and used their chainsaw to cut it down. Yes, even with large amounts of trees already down, and lots of firewood that could be collected, they cut down a live tree. Later in the evening, more arrived to make it a party. While it wasn’t loud, the crowd chatter and country music was counter-intuitive to the peace and quiet we expected from being in a preserve.
On Sunday, we decided to pack up and move on – a smart move, being the trucks arrived again as we were leaving.
Cypress Creek Preserve has the potential to be a very nice place to camp and, for the first few days was great. But, as of this writing, it could really use more patrols, especially on the weekends.
Update: We returned to Cypress Creek near the end of our stay in Florida. Upon arriving, we found a mostly burnt up picnic table, a messy port-o-john complete with underwear and a full garbage bag, tampon applicators and other trash on the ground in various places, and the same general conditions as mentioned from our previous trip. The only other campers, this time, are luckily only families in tents. We’re back in our corner and enjoying our stay – especially for the price! – but, again, this site would really benefit from additional patrolling.