Ross Prairie and the Reservation Blues

January 15-16, 2024                                                    Most Recent Posts:
Ross Prairie Trailhead                                        Last Days at Myakka River
and Campground                    On the Myakka River and Into the Wilderness
Dunnellon, Florida

There is an amazing ordeal to go through to get reservations in the winter for nearly all Florida State Parks.   When David and I first began coming here in the winters, it was significantly easier although you did have to make those reservations 11 months in advance which I find ridiculous.  Who can know for sure what they will be doing 11 months from now.  But there were always sites to be had.  Covid changed all that when so many people who were not retired could now be on the road full time and work from “home”.  

This past year was all but impossible, the worst yet.  My usual routine is to book state parks beginning in early November and stay in each for 2 weeks.  That means I must have another reservation to begin the day I have to leave where I currently am.   The matching has become a serious problem and this year I failed to be able to get a site at Silver Springs for January 15 when I had to leave Myakka.   I failed 2 days in a row.  I finally got a site for two weeks at Silver Springs beginning January 17.  That meant I had to fill in 2 days preferably with a park somewhere reasonably on the way between Myakka and Silver Springs.  The planning for an RVer is not an easy thing.

Ross Prairie is located on the southern edge of the Cross Florida Greenway.  It is used primarily by equestrians and trail bike riders.  The area is ecologically unique having sandhill and wetland prairie systems adjacent to each other.  I’m told the habitat changes with the seasons and water volume of the prairie; when wet, dozens of waterfowl, wading birds and more wildlife can be spotted.  I was only there two days and it rained part of one and all of another so I didn’t get to see much. 

All 14 campsites in this small park are pull through, have water and 30/50 amp hook ups along with a dump station.  It was a welcome port in a storm so to speak.   Particularly welcome as I didn’t even have to unhook.  Not sure about other sites but mine was not level so I just didn’t put out my slides for those days.

Despite the rains, I was able to hike sections of the trail going off from the campground.

Love Florida’s Live Oaks

The trails in this area meander through Live oak hammocks and islands interspersed around the edge of Ross Prairie.  Wildlife that makes its home here includes whitetail deer, wild turkey, bobcat, alligators in the prairie, gopher tortoises in the sandhills

Habitat change

Sadly for me, I didn’t see any wildlife on my hike.  I would love to have seen a bobcat or gopher tortoise but I did see some interesting fungi.  
This one looks frozen, like ice,  but it feels rubbery.

Purple?  Really?

Fungi like moisture and these seem to be able to collect it for themselves.

These shelf mushrooms that look like ruffles to me.

I was very glad that the campground was sandy as it rained a great deal during my two days but no puddles stayed long.

During one break in the rain, I heard the unmistakable sound of the Sandhill Crane and hurried to find them.   Use this link to take a listen.

They are over 3 feet tall and have wonderful red crowns.  They are one of the oldest species on Earth with fossils dating back 2 million years.  Three subspecies of Sandhill migrate from Northern breeding grounds to  Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.   Three other subspecies are resident in Florida, Mississippi and Cuba.   Thus, this is the Florida Sandhill Crane.

They were just wandering around the campground.  It was great fun.

I was very lucky that Ross Prairie was located less than 25 miles from Silver Springs and the day my reservation started there , I was able to stop on the western edge of Ocala to have Winnona’s oil change and lube done.  Getting regular maintenance on Winnona and getting her washed and waxed are major problems for me to locate.   David always did the former and the two of us the latter.  Life on the road is much harder and less fun without him.   I made it to Silver Springs but not without a totally unexplained mishap.  That’s up next.