Beaver Pond Trail at Gulf Islands National Seashore’s Naval Live Oaks Area

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Note: Two portions of the Beaver Pond Trail are part of my Naval Live Oaks Loop Hike, a 6-mile hike that covers most of the Naval Live Oaks Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida. If you are interested in this hike, a link to the next trail segment is given at the bottom of this report. The Loop Hike covers .4 mile of the Beaver Pond Trail’s 1-mile length: .1 mile as described in this report and another .3 mile to conclude the hike.

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Length: 1 mile, one way
Difficulty: Easy

Naval Live Oaks Loop Hike (click to enlarge)

Beaver Pond Trail portion of the Naval Live Oaks Loop Hike

The Beaver Pond Trail is one of the few trails in the Naval Live Oaks unit of Gulf Islands National Seashore that can be hiked from beginning to end without having to hike very far on other trails to reach it. Its southern trailhead is located on the opposite side of Gulf Breeze Parkway from the Naval Live Oaks parking lot, though you must first walk .2 mile down the road along a paved, Multi-Use Path before attempting to cross the Parkway. From there, the trail runs north to the park boundary where it ends at a residential neighborhood on Reservation Road. There is a sizable dirt parking lot at Reservation Road, so hikers could start at the northern trailhead as well without any extra hiking.

Most people will not set out to specifically hike the Beaver Pond Trail, but will instead include it as part of a longer hike, such as my Naval Live Oaks Loop Hike that uses two sections of the trail: a short segment north of the Old Quarry Trail and the section south of the Andrew Jackson Trail. For now, I am describing the hike north of the Old Quarry Trail. While I only hiked a small section, the terrain in this part of Naval Live Oaks doesn’t change much, so expect the entire trail to be similar to what is described in this report.

The intersection of the Old Quarry Trail and the Beaver Pond Trail is X-shaped. To follow my Naval Live Oaks Loop Hike, take a left on the Beaver Pond Trail. The immediate right turn is also the Beaver Pond Trail, but this leads back to Gulf Breeze Parkway. If you want to stay on the Old Quarry Trail, continue straight ahead. A directional sign is at the intersection.

Old Quarry Trail / Beaver Pond Trail intersection at Naval Live Oaks, Gulf Islands National Seashore

At only .1 mile, this stretch of the Beaver Pond Trail is the shortest trail segment used on my Loop Hike. It takes less than five minutes to walk to the next turn, Brown’s Pond Trail. This segment is wide and continues through the shrub and pine tree environment common to the trails north of Gulf Breeze Parkway. The trail surface is comprised of shallow sand with some vegetation growing up between old tire tracks that have been worn into the ground over the years.

The sand at the intersection with the Old Quarry Trail is orange in color, different from the white sand on other segments of the trail. However, even when you are hiking on white sand, if you look at the small ant hills that populate the trails, you will find that the ants are digging up orange sand that lies beneath the top layer of white sand.

Orange sand on the Beaver Pond Trail at Naval Live Oaks, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Orange sand dug up by ants on the trails in the Naval Live Oaks unit of Gulf Islands National Seashore

There is no sign identifying Brown’s Pond Trail, but it is the first right you will come to after turning onto the Beaver Pond Trail, so you can’t miss it. There is another trail that goes to the left only twenty feet prior to the right turn. This is not on the trail map, and I have no idea where it goes. For those wanting to hike the Beaver Pond Trail to the northern park boundary, stay straight. The boundary is only a tenth of a mile farther.

Intersection of the Beaver Pond and Brown’s Pond trails in the Naval Live Oaks unit of Gulf Islands National Seashore

To stay on the Naval Live Oaks Loop Hike, take a right onto the Brown’s Pond Trail. See the Brown’s Pond Trail web page for further information.

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