Palm Hammock and Oak Hammock Trail map

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See the Hiking Trails web page for an interactive location map.

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Length: 2-mile loop
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy

The term palm hammock refers to a stand of cabbage palm trees that grow on a plot of land that is a little higher in elevation than the surrounding wetlands. In Florida, this elevation difference may only be a few feet, but it is enough to create a section of dry land that supports vegetation that cannot grow in the wet areas. As you walk around the Palm Hammock Trail, notice that you are often surrounded by a swamp. If you are hiking in the winter—the dry season in Florida—you may see more mud than water, but this won’t be the case once the rains come starting in May.

Wetlands along the Palm Hammock Trail at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Though described as a loop in the park brochure, the Palm Hammock Trail is actually a .7-mile out-and-back trail with a .6-mile loop on the end, like a lasso. It starts at the same parking lot at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge as the Oak Hammock Trail. In fact, both begin on the same path before splitting off in different directions. They are not connected in any other way, so they cannot be combined to form one, longer hike.

From the parking lot, follow the PALM HAMMOCK sign to begin the journey. The terrain is covered in ferns, and it looks like something out of Jurassic Park. However, within just a few minutes you’ll come to a boardwalk that passes through a wet area and then some railroad tracks and a gravel road. At this point the trail enters a live oak and saw palmetto forest. The vegetation is the same as on the Oak Hammock Trail, but once you get to the loop where the Palm Hammock is, you will see the difference.

Terrain at the start of the Palm Hammock Trail at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Life oak environment at the start of the Palm Hammock Trail

Around the half-mile mark, the trail exits the forest and enters the marsh, an area exposed to the sun for about a tenth of a mile.

Marsh along the Palm Hammock Trail at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Once the trail reenters the forest you are in the Palm Hammock where you will find cabbage palm trees, the tall palms associated with Florida. These trees are relatively absent less than a mile away on the Oak Hammock Trail.

Cabbage palm forest on the Palm Hammock Trail on Merritt Island

The loop portion of the hike begins at the .7-mile mark. There is an information sign at the junction. Being a loop you can go around in either direction, but I chose to proceed in a counterclockwise manner by taking a right.

Sign marks the start of the loop portion of the Palm Hammock Trail on Merritt Island

The loop trail has many roots exposed on the surface and is quite muddy. It’s not deep mud, but it will muck up the bottoms of your shoes enough so that if you walk into the house without taking them off, you will get yelled at by somebody. Boardwalks carry hikers over the worst of it, but there is plenty of mud elsewhere. I hiked the trail in March during Florida’s dry season, so I can imagine how muddy it must be in the summer. Once you return to the start of the loop, head back to the parking lot the same way you came in.

Muddy terrain on the Palm Hammock Trail on Merritt Island

Boardwalk spans a wet area on the Palm Hammock Trail at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

If the weather is nice and the mosquitoes are not yet out, the hike around Palm Hammock is pleasant. I only encountered a couple of mosquitoes, nothing warranting the application of insect repellent. If you want to hike another half mile, you can try the Oak Hammock Trail. This leads to a hammock dominated by live oaks. See the Oak Hammock Trail review for more information.

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