Julington Durbin Creek Nature Preserve — Attraction in Jacksonville

I live right next to the preserve, so this is my daily go-to for walking the dog or just stepping away from the desk for a while. The trail is well maintained and blazed with multiple intersecting trails, so you can make your hike as long or as short as you want.

There is also a lot of wildlife to be seen at certain times of the day; mostly turkeys, ospreys, deer, etc.

Tip: This trail is actually on Google maps. If you zoom into the map the trail should appear, so it's pretty hard to get (or stay) lost.

The only cons to this place that I've experienced are:

The parking lot and ingress road need to be bladed so badly. I drive a truck and I feel like it's going to shake apart every time I drive in and out. I don't know how people with cars get out of there without leaving their mufflers behind.

People leave their dog bags all over the trail. If you see someone doing this, call them out.

The yellow flies get really bad in the summer, especially towards the approach trail to the creek.

I haven't noticed this lately, but - people have been doing gender reveal photos out here and just leaving the plastic confetti all over the place. Me and another guy spent an hour picking up all the bits of plastic from one of those...

First off let me say that the three star review is in by no means a slight to the preserve the nature trails and the ambience they’ve kept for the outdoors. My three star review is based on the fact that most of the animals that I grew up in that area walking through the woods (when there was no paths, man-made rickety bridges to get over little creeks, I just felt real Jacksonville back then and no I’m not that old I’m talking about the 90s lol. Getting to see REAL WILD animals up close and personal and not just what I assumed was a dog and a turtle, but deer plenty, and so many more animals that I’d rather not say because some of my find me crazy for being around them. I do wish of the allowed primitive camping from what I’ve seen it is not something that they offer, but if I’d I am wrong, please do let me know. I love primitive camping away from campsites, RVs, those awful parking lot KOA‘s. It is a beautiful place to go for a hike, see some nature, and soak in whatever might be left of...

This nature reserve is about 8 to 10 miles round trip with paths that cut your travel distance. It is wide and clean except for at the beginning where there is dog and horse mess that doesn't get cleaned up. People can ride bicycles or horses, run, and walk with dogs on leashes per signs. There are those who don't keep their dogs on leash but that's everywhere you go. Not much to look at and 85% of your time is in the sun so I would recommend hats or cool days and of course bug spray. There are signs that mark your distance in miles and km but be careful I ended up walking 8 miles by not paying attention. Although it was a lovely walk. There is only 1 Porta-Potty bathroom and it's at the entrance. And there is 1 path that leads to the water but it isn't marked well (by the bench if that helps). It's perfect if you're looking for wide paths to just get lost in your thoughts. And there is a map at the entrance. On the weekends parking can get a...