Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park — Attraction in Key Largo

This review is for those who've come here to do some running or walking. We came in late December around 9am without mosquito repellent. As long as we kept moving, we didn't notice mosquitoes. When we stopped to take pictures, we got bitten. The trail is only paved for the first half mile. After that, it turns very rocky, but only for about a tenth of a mile. If you're pushing a stroller this portion would be rough, but it's not like this for long. Off to the left is a small section called "nature trail" which is sort of humorous because the entire trail is a nature trail, but this small section is especially lovely because of the hammocking of the trees, so I recommend taking it. If you're wanting to run the full trail, it really isn't possible because a portion of the trail is completely under water. So you'll have to backtrack and then follow a path around to the right. There is a cone that marks the path but it's easy to follow. This section takes you to the main trail again and you can turn right or left. If you go right, it takes you about a half mile to where, if you had taken the flooded trail, you'd end up. You'll have to turn around here and then run back. But this is how you can get in a 3 mile "loop". Otherwise the loop is only about a mile around. I posted a picture of my Strava map. If you look between the mile 1 marker and mile 7 marker, you can see how small the section of trail is that is flooded. I also took a picture of the flooded trail with my watch in the picture so you can see how the flooded section is almost exactly 1 mile from the head of the trail.

I wouldn't say this is a scenic trail, but it is off the road. You don't hear cars. The canopy of the trees is lovely. We saw no wildlife. Not even a small lizard. I saw a few birds and a big cricket, but that was it in 8 miles of running.

Truthfully I'd say that the people served best by this trail are runners, dog owners, cyclists (mtn bike or cross bikes), and people who know trees. You see some water, but not much. Don't bring your white shoes. In fact, don't wear white socks either because the dirt is reddish and a tad sandy, so your shoes and socks will be visibly dirty when you leave.

We did appreciate the lavatory. It was clean and not too odorous. It had bathroom tissue. It's a recycling toilet, so that was interesting to me.

Happy running, walking, biking everyone!...

We visited on a Monday morning in late December 2024. There was one other car there when we arrived. We ran into the other person as we were walking in past the gate. He was very friendly and actually talked to us and gave us a bunch of tips.

He mentioned how the trail on the far end was a little submerged and muddy and suggested we avoid that and do the short loops. He also warned us about lots of mosquitos. The temps were in the 60s. The other tip is that the park provides map for you in both English and Spanish but they catch is they attach it to the back of the first info board. So make sure you check behind if you want a nice laminated map and remember to put it back when you're done. We went ahead and paid it forward as we were leaving and another group of people were coming in for the first time.

When you hike in there is pit toilet in between the two parallel trails at the beginning. My wife used it and said it was pretty bad. We've used pit toilets plenty on our adventures and she said you need to be pretty desperate to use this one. It was pretty full.

If you walk a little further there is a really nice Butterfly Garden/Picnic Area which is very pretty and picturesque. The only problem was mosquitos. The local who we bumped into and talked with us had on long pants and long sleeves. We should've taken that as a hint. We did do the Port Bougainville Trail until we hit the spur. We soon realized that we needed to keep hauling it and as long as you kept moving it was harder for the mosquitos to get you. There were some really nice views on this trail but if you stopped more than 10 sec to enjoy the views of the water, you were immediately swarmed by mosquitos. There have been very few other trails we've been on where it was this bad and we've hiked over 100 different trails since COVID all on the East Coast.

This park is a great little hidden gem but the only thing really keeping it from being 5 stars is the lack of mosquito control. We may visit again in the future but not super high priority...

If you want a wooded semi-shaded trail to walk/bike a gravel road with the family or by yourself, then this is for you. If you are a Florida hiker you will be very disappointed and know what I mean if you ever visit. Car sounds infiltrate the trails from the highway the entire time. The designated trails are loops that end up in closed off areas that force you to backtrack the same trail. Other smaller trails look like they exist? But no signage to know where they lead to and the main map does not show them, just a one mile loop and a two mile loop, that as mentioned, aren't really loops. Signs along the way state to stay on the main trail, which you can only assume is the dirt gravel road. I can understand the sentiment of others that state one could get lost. The signage is just not good. Several people mentioned bugs in their review. Notably they were visiting in July. I did not encounter any in my recent visit in August. Always have my mosquito garb to throw on just in case but it was not needed at all. Best bet is just be prepared. The best thing I saw at this park was lots of native snowberry. Not something you see every day as it is native...