We hiked down the old historic A1A highway that cut across The Bella Vista Trail. The trail leads you along a white-blazed Timucuan Loop through a shady maritime hammock of red bay, southern magnolia, and cabbage palms. The patchwork of habitats along this 1.8 mile loop, includes coastal scrub and the northernmost extent of mangroves along the fringe of the Matanzas River. There were a lot of colorful leaves that had fallen in December. Florida's fall is typically in December when the new growth pushes the old leaves. Some trees still had brillant orange leaves.
