Centennial Trail.

Centennial Trail is probably the least travelled of the major trails at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. It connects the Jeff Friend trail & the Pine Beach trail, both of which have substantially more visitors, especially during the summer months in the height of tourist season. Centennial is roughly two miles long, and ventures through some truly amazing coastal ecosystems. There are huge expanses of palmetto thickets, and a large wetland pond. Sadly, after our long drought this year, the pond was completely dry earlier this week, and growing 6-foot tall pine trees, which means it has been dry for months.

Palmetto thicket.

One of the boardwalks through some of the wetter parts of the trail.

Bon Secour N.W.R.

Remarkably few people venture into Bon Secour National Wildlife 

Refuge. That's truly a shame, because it is a stunningly beautiful place. The only way into the vast majority of it is on foot, which explains why it remains a secluded wonderland. Personally, I love the fact that there is an oasis in the middle of tourist hell where you can easily go hours without seeing another person. Yesterday, I only encountered three other humans over the course of about 3 hours.

That's Gator Lake in the forefront. Little Lagoon is to the left, separated by maybe 100 feet of sand. And in the distance are the natural sand dunes, which can easily be 30-40 feet high, that separate both from the Gulf of Mexico. This is one of my favorite places.

Approaching Little Lagoon on the eastern end of the refuge. The far shore is the narrow peninsula of Gulf beaches. You can see some of the beach houses over there through the trees if you look closely.