Coastal Hammock in St. Petersburg: Native Trees and Where to Walk It

Yes: St. Petersburg has maritime hammock at Weedon Island Preserve, where the Boy Scout Loop passes through maritime and xeric hammocks (Weedon Island Preserve trails), and FNAI describes maritime hammock as an evergreen hardwood forest growing on stabilized coastal dunes (FNAI).

The Florida Natural Areas Inventory defines maritime hammock, one of the two hammock types on the Weedon Island Boy Scout Loop, as a predominantly evergreen hardwood forest on stabilized coastal dunes that lie at varying distances from the shore (FNAI maritime hammock). Along the Gulf coast from Pasco to Lee counties the usual type pairs temperate canopy trees with tropical understory shrubs; farther south, more tropical trees reach the canopy (FNAI).

On Weedon Island the dry land is a small share of the preserve. The uplands cover about 1,100 relatively flat acres, with Indian mounds and relic dune ridges at the higher elevations, while the rest of the roughly 3,195 acres is aquatic and wetland (Weedon Island Preserve ecosystems). Pinellas County sums it up as mostly marine ecosystems with some uplands, on Tampa Bay in north St. Petersburg (Pinellas County).

The Weedon Island Boy Scout Loop, a one-mile trail, passes through pine flatwoods and both maritime and xeric hammocks (Weedon Island Preserve trails). FNAI describes xeric hammock as an evergreen forest on well-drained sand with a low, mostly closed canopy of sand live oak (FNAI xeric hammock). The city's Boyd Hill Nature Preserve page describes trails through diverse habitats without naming them (city Boyd Hill page).

Live oak, cabbage palm, red bay and red cedar are characteristic of temperate maritime hammock (maritime hammock is one of the hammock types on the Weedon Island Boy Scout Loop), with saw palmetto, wax myrtle and yaupon among its typical shrubs (FNAI).

FNAI adds pignut hickory and southern magnolia to the canopy, American holly to the subcanopy, and tough bully to the shrub layer; the herb layer is sparse or missing (FNAI maritime hammock). The hammock grows low and streamlined, a profile FNAI says deflects wind and generally keeps hurricanes from uprooting the trees (FNAI). These are statewide FNAI descriptions; the Weedon Island Preserve trails page names the hammock types on the Boy Scout Loop but not the species in them (Weedon Island Preserve trails).

Live oak, the first tree in the FNAI characteristic list, reaches 60 to 80 feet tall and 60 to 120 feet wide and tolerates alkaline soil, salt and drought, according to UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions (UF/IFAS). Wild coffee, one of the tropical understory shrubs FNAI lists for maritime hammock, grows 4 to 10 feet tall in partial to full shade, is moderately salt tolerant, and is cold tender north of zone 9 (UF/IFAS).

For xeric hammock, the second hammock type on the Weedon Island Boy Scout Loop, FNAI lists sand live oak as the dominant canopy tree, with Chapman oak, turkey oak, bluejack oak, sand post oak or laurel oak also possibly common and saw palmetto, myrtle oak and rusty staggerbush in the understory (FNAI xeric hammock).

On the Weedon Island Boy Scout Loop the hammocks share the trail with pine flatwoods (Weedon Island Preserve trails). FNAI separates temperate maritime hammock from xeric hammock by its live oak canopy, instead of sand live oak, and by the presence of cabbage palm, and notes that xeric hammocks intermediate with mesic hammock may have some live oak in the canopy (FNAI maritime hammock; FNAI xeric hammock).

The Boy Scout Loop at Weedon Island Preserve, 1800 Weedon Drive NE in St. Petersburg, is a one-mile trail through pine flatwoods and maritime and xeric hammocks, with 1.7 more miles of trail reached from it (Weedon Island Preserve trails).

Local Boy Scout troops helped build the Weedon Island loop, picnic areas sit along it in the shade of towering oaks, and the trails are kept in their natural state, so footbridges cross the routinely wet spots and other stretches can be seasonally wet (Weedon Island Preserve). Pinellas County counts more than 4.7 miles of boardwalks and trails across the whole preserve (Pinellas County).

Weedon Island Preserve opens daily at 7 a.m. and closes at a time posted at the entrance, about 15 minutes before sunset, and is closed the day after Thanksgiving and December 25; the Cultural and Natural History Center is open Thursday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Monday to Wednesday and county holidays), and admission to both is free (Weedon Island Preserve). Weedon Island trail rules bar dogs and horses, bicycles and other vehicles on the trails, alcohol and smoking, and they protect every plant and animal in the preserve (Weedon Island Preserve trail rules).

The state of Florida owns Weedon Island Preserve and Pinellas County manages it through lease agreements under a state-approved management plan (Weedon Island Preserve ecosystems).

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is a 400-acre city preserve in St. Petersburg that connects to Lake Maggiore, with trails that pass through diverse habitats (city Boyd Hill page).

The city names gopher tortoises, alligators and marsh rabbits among the wildlife along the trails (city Boyd Hill page). The city Lake Maggiore Environmental Education Center page describes trails and boardwalks through diverse ecosystems, home to over 60 species of amphibians and reptiles, 50 species of butterflies and 165 bird species, and says the preserve is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail (Lake Maggiore Environmental Education Center). FNAI notes that gopher tortoises also often use maritime hammocks, though not as primary habitat (FNAI).

Boyd Hill admission is $3 for adults and $1.50 for children ages 3 to 16, with children under 3 free, and the preserve is closed on Mondays (city Boyd Hill page). From March 1 to October 31 the Boyd Hill trail closes at 6:30 p.m.; from November 1 to February 25 it closes at 5:30 p.m. (city Boyd Hill page). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the St. Pete Parks and Rec Boyd Hill website.

As of October 15, 2026, the Boyd Hill nature center exhibits are closed for renovations while the preserve and trails stay open, according to the City of St. Petersburg (city Boyd Hill page).

Weedon Island acreage differs between Pinellas County pages: the preserve ecosystems page gives approximately 3,195 acres and the preserve trails page over 3,195 acres (Weedon Island Preserve ecosystems; Weedon Island Preserve trails), while the county parks page calls it a 3,000-acre natural area (Pinellas County). The same county page lists the north paddling trail at Weedon Island as closed at this time (Pinellas County).

Regionally, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program Habitat Master Plan sets goals for the watershed by no later than 2050 that include 142,100 acres of native uplands, among them coastal hammocks and pine flatwoods, and 4,219 acres of coastal uplands (TBEP Habitat Master Plan).

FNAI says temperate and tropical maritime hammocks serve as crucial resting and foraging areas for songbirds on their fall and spring migrations to and from the tropics, and that gopher tortoises often use maritime hammocks, the hammock type named first on the Weedon Island Boy Scout Loop (Weedon Island Preserve trails; FNAI).