Torreya State Park is a 12,000 acre (49 km²) Florida State Park, U.S.National Natural Landmark and historic site thirteen miles (19 km) north of Bristol. It is located north of S.R 12 on the Apalachicola River, in northwestern Florida, at 2576 N.W. Torreya Park Road. It was named for a rare species of Torreya tree which only grows on the river bluffs.
With river swamps and high pinelands, extensive ravines and high bluffs along the river, the park has one of the most variable terrains of any in Florida.
History[]
Prior Native American inhabitation has been confirmed by archaeological discoveries in the area.
In 1818, General Andrew Jackson and his army crossed the Apalachicola here during the first Seminole Indian War. Ten years later, the first government road to cross the new Territory met the river here.
Due to the river's importance during the Civil War, a six cannon battery was placed on a bluff to prevent the passage of Uniongunboats. The gun pit's remains can still be seen in the park.
Gregory House[]
In 1849, Jason Gregory built a plantation at Ocheesee Landing, across from the park's current location. After the Civil War, like most plantations, it fell into disuse.
Not long after the Civilian Conservation Corps was established in 1933, they started work to create the park. Part of the project in 1935 was disassembling the old Gregory House, moving it across the river and reconstructing in the park, where it stands today.
Visitors can tour the Gregory House for a small fee.
Biology[]
Flora[]
The park is one of the few places in the country where the endangered Few-flowered croomia (Croomia pauciflora) can still be found.[1][2] Other endangered species in the park include the feathery false lily of the valley, Canadian honewort and bloodroot.[3] With its location in the panhandle and large number and variety of hardwood trees (like beech, hickory, southern sugar maple, sourwood and sweetgum), the park provides the best view of fall colors in the state.
Fauna[]
Many animals can be seen in the park. Some of the mammals there include deer, squirrel, raccoon, opossum, fox, skunk, rabbit, bobcat and black bear. Dozens of species of birds can be viewed. Numerous species of amphibians and reptiles exist there as well, such as the Eastern Hognose Snake, gopher tortoises, and the rare Apalachicola dusky salamander.
Recreational Activities[]
The park has such amenities as birding, boating, hiking, picnicking, wildlife viewing and full camping facilities. It also has concessions, a museum and interpretive exhibit.
The Apalachicola River Bluffs Trail, a National Recreational Trail, is part of the park.
Biscayne National Park •Dry Tortugas National Park •Everglades National Park
National Monuments and Memorials
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument •Fort Matanzas National Monument •De Soto National Memorial •Fort Caroline National Memorial
National Forests
Apalachicola •Choctawhatchee •Ocala •Osceola
National Wildlife Refuges
Archie Carr • Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee • Caloosahatchee • Cedar Keys • Chassahowitzka • Crocodile Lake • Crystal River • Egmont Key • Florida Panther • Great White Heron • Hobe Sound • Island Bay • J.N. 'Ding' Darling • Key West • Lake Wales Ridge • Lake Woodruff • Lower Suwannee • Matlacha Pass • Merritt Island • National Key Deer • Okefenokee • Passage Key • Pelican Island • Pine Island • Pinellas • St. Johns • St. Marks • St. Vincent • Ten Thousand Islands
Other National Protected Areas
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary •Big Cypress National Preserve •Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve • Canaveral National Seashore •Gulf Islands National Seashore • Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve •Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve •Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
State
Parks
Amelia Island •Anastasia •Avalon •Bahia Honda •Bald Point •Big Lagoon •Big Talbot Island •Bill Baggs Cape Florida •Bulow Creek •Caladesi Island •Camp Helen •Cayo Costa •Collier-Seminole •Curry Hammock •Delnor-Wiggins Pass •Devil's Millhopper •Don Pedro Island •Eden Gardens •Egmont Key •Falling Waters •Faver-Dykes •Florida Caverns •Fort Clinch •Fort Cooper •Fort George Island •Fort Pierce Inlet •Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou •Gasparilla Island •George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier •Highlands Hammock •Hontoon Island •Hugh Taylor Birch •John D. MacArthur Beach •John Pennekamp Coral Reef •John U. Lloyd Beach •Jonathan Dickinson •Little Talbot Island •Long Key •Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson •Mike Roess Gold Head Branch •Navarre Beach •North Peninsula •O'Leno •Oscar Scherer •Ravine Gardens •River Bluff Picnic Site •Sebastian Inlet •Skyway Fishing Pier •St. George Island •St. Joseph Peninsula •Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center •Stump Pass Beach •Tomoka •Torreya •Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical Garden Parks
Alfred B. Maclay Gardens •Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock •Lignumvitae Key •Washington Oaks State Gardens
Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks
Deer Lake •Lake Griffin •Lake June in Winter Scrub •Lake Kissimmee •Lake Louisa •Lake Manatee •Lake Talquin •Alafia River •Blackwater River •Econfina River •Guana River •Hillsborough River •Little Manatee River •Myakka River •Ochlockonee River •Silver River •Suwannee River •Blue Spring •De Leon Springs •Edward Ball Wakulla Springs •Fanning Springs •Homosassa Springs Wildlife •Ichetucknee Springs •Lafayette Blue Springs •Madison Blue Springs •Manatee Springs •Peacock Springs •Rainbow Springs •Troy Springs •Weeki Wachee Springs •Wekiwa Springs •Werner-Boyce Salt Springs
Recreation Areas
Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek •Dead Lakes •Dunns Creek •Gamble Rogers Memorial •Grayton Beach •Henderson Beach •Honeymoon Island •Oleta River •Perdido Key •Ponce de Leon Springs •St. Andrews •Three Rivers
Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites
Cedar Key Museum •Constitution Convention Museum •Forest Capital Museum •John Gorrie State Museum •Ybor City Museum •The Barnacle •Bulow Plantation Ruins •Dade Battlefield •DeSoto Site •Dudley Farm •Fort Foster •Fort Mose •Fort Zachary Taylor •Gamble Plantation •Indian Key •Koreshan •Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead •Natural Bridge Battlefield •Olustee Battlefield •Orman House •Paynes Creek •San Marcos de Apalache •Yellow Bluff Fort •Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins •Crystal River •Lake Jackson Mounds •Letchworth Mounds •Madira Bickel Mound •Mound Key •San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and Reserves
Anclote Key •Cedar Key Scrub •Charlotte Harbor •Crystal River •Estero Bay •Fakahatchee Strand •Grassy Lake •Hal Scott •Kissimmee Prairie •Lower Wekiva River •Paynes Prairie •Pumpkin Hill Creek •River Rise •Rock Springs Run •San Felasco Hammock •Savannas •Seabranch •St. Lucie Inlet •St. Sebastian River •Tarkiln Bayou •Topsail Hill •Tosohatchee •Waccasassa Bay •Yellow River Marsh
State Trails
Gainesville-Hawthorne •General James A. Van Fleet •Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail •Withlacoochee
State Forests
Belmore •Big Shoals Public Lands •Blackwater River •Carl Duval Moore •Cary •Cottage Hill •Deep Creek •Etoniah Creek •Four Creeks •Goethe •Holopaw •Indian Lake •Jennings •John Bethea •Lake George •Lake Talquin •Lake Wales Ridge •Little Big Econ •Matanzas •Myakka •Okaloacoochee Slough •Picayune Strand •Pine Log •Point Washington •Ralph E. Simmons Memorial •Ross Prairie •Seminole •Tate's Hell •Tiger Bay •Twin Rivers •Wakulla •Watson Island •Welaka •Withlacoochee
