Blazing Star Preserve — Attraction in Boca Raton

Blazing Star is 26 acres of scrub pine with a mile loop running on top of sugar sand. It is adjacent to the much larger Sugar Sand Park. This area was once part of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, ancient dunes that lined the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the trail runs along I-95 and in addition to the cars you may hear the occasional train racing past.

Plants you might encounter include sand live oaks, myrtle oak, Chapman oak, saw palmetto, slash pine, sand pine, bromeliad, prickly pear cactus, marsh ferns and cinnamon ferns and the invasive Brazilian pepper. When I came upon the pink and yellow lantana growing in the back of the preserve it was covered in zebra longwing butterflies. If you want to see the blazing star (Liatris), with it's stalks of purple flowers that the area takes it's name from you will have to plan your visit for late summer and early fall.

If you are lucky you will see protected gopher tortoises. All I came upon however was a burrow. As you make your way through the preserve you will be serenaded by cicadas and crickets.

This is a pretty isolate spot, especially when you get to the back of the preserve. Unlike a lot of other preserves I have visited this one is not paved so it is not wheelchair accessible. It was actually quite hard to even walk in the back but when I came upon a hundred butterflies floating around the plants it made the muddy sneakers and trek worth it. You have to be slow and quiet to fully appreciate this area but once you focus in a lot of...

Lovely little nature preserve with pine scrub habitat, wildflowers, and gopher tortoises. Dogs and other pets are NOT allowed in order to protect the tortoises, unlike many other walking trails in the city. The location is beside a railroad and the highway, so there is often substantial noise due to traffic and trains. There is a short mile-long walking loop over sandy ground, with the trail joining an maintenance road for a while near the midpoint. Wildflowers can be seen along the banks of a bayou between the maintenance road and the highway. Better signage marking the trails would be helpful where it crosses the maintenance roads. Little wildlife during summer days (only saw one dove and a tortoise, as well as many crimson dragonflies), but that may vary with time of...

Blazing Star Preserve is a nice surprise in a suburban area. Right off of Camino Real road, just west of i95, it appears to be a small park, but is very deep with some great trails for wa6king and cycling. It has sandy trails with brush surrounding on most sides, and you could get quite lost if you're not careful. Some cool wildlife abounds, with squirrels, iguanas, tortoises and birds. I'm sure there is more wildlife, that is just what I saw on my trip through. Be careful cycling through on a bicycle, as I got a flat tire from a thorn. I would definitely recommend it for a nice family...