Join Gulf Winds Track Club for the Swamp Forest Trail Run on Saturday, January 4, 2025, at Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park. The annual event offers runners a chance to complete a one-loop Quarter Marathon (6.8 mi), two-loop Half Marathon (13.6 mi), or three-loop 20-Mile Challenge (20.4 mi).
Course
The course consists of beautiful rolling terrain on both single-track and multi-use trails. The Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park Trail is comprised of three main loops: Swamp Forest, Coon Bottom, and Oak Hammock, along with several connecting trails. The course connects these trails into a 6.8-mile loop.
The Swamp Forest Loop runs next to a seepage basin swamp and a profusion of ferns, passes ephemeral ponds, and a Beech-Magnolia forest.
The Coon Bottom Loop runs beside a clear sand-bottom seepage stream in many places, and passes through Beech-Magnolia and Spruce Pine forests. The trail crosses a black-water stream that drains a seepage basin swamp. Along the north side of the loop, the trail passes through an upland forest.
The Oak Hammock Loop runs near the shore of Lake Jackson. Deer can often be seen along the edges of open fields. The adjacent fields contain many fenced gopher tortoise holes.
The Creek Forest Trail runs around the head of a seepage stream, curves around an ephemeral pond, then encounters a series of meander loops of the main stream. There are large patches of Giant Cane and Arundinaria gigantea along the trail.
The Big Tree Cutoff passes a swamp that contains Pinckneya, Needle Palms and a stand of huge Tulip-Poplars.
