One of the blue lagoons at Leon Sinks
When people hear that I’ve been hiking in all 50 states, they often ask what’s the best place I’ve ever hiked. Impossible to say, but a quick, inarguable answer is the Grand Canyon. Recently, somebody asked me what’s the worst place. Easy: Leon Sinks, just south of Tallahasse, Florida.
Don’t get me wrong; Leon Sinks is an amazing place. This is Karst Country: the underlying carbonate limestone formed by ancient coral reefs is easily dissolved by groundwater, creating one of the world’s most extensive underwater cave systems. More than 28 miles of surveyed cave passages snake through the sink-hole riddled ground under Leon Sinks Geologic Area. I’m no scuba diver, so I hiked the two loops 5.5 miles through the park, marveling at the numerous blue hole cave entrances.
At the bottom of the this lake lies an entrance to one of the longest underwater cave systems in the world.
The trail was easy, the early fall weather pleasant, the woods lovely, the bright blue sinkholes fascinating and I didn’t run into any alligators. So what was the problem? Thousands upon thousands of these:
Golden Silk Orbweaver Spiders!
I have never seen so many spiders in my life! Now, I actually like spiders. I loved crossing paths with tarantulas in New Mexico. In college, I wrote a paper on the evolution of spider webs and I’ve had a lot of respect for “Charlotte’s” ever since. But I could not handle the sheer numbers of shockingly huge spiders at Leon Sinks. I rarely lose my cool, but I lost it thoroughly on this hike.
Golden silk orbweaver spiders are actually pretty harmless. They don’t usually bite and if they do the worst case scenario is an itchy, ouchy bite no worse than a bee sting. But just look at those things! They are huge. Any spider large enough to have easily visible mouth parts is too big for me.
Orbweaver web. The silk is a golden yellow color, possibly to attract bees and is highly valued for weaving.
The first half of the hike on the more popular loop trail was fine. Enough people hike that trail that the spiders don’t really get time to weave their large, intricate webs across the path. Here’s a tracking tip for you: if there are spider webs across a trail, nobody has gone that way in several hours.
When I set off on the second loop I quickly discovered that nobody had hiked that way in awhile: orbweaver webs everywhere! Getting caught in one of those sticky tangles was bad enough, but the idea of one of the giant spiders in my hair or on my face was more than I could handle.
Following Bowie through the spider-ridden woods. He was unconcerned.
Here’s how stubborn I am: I didn’t turn back. I picked up a stick and hiked with it held in front of me, knocking down webs as I went. I made it all the way around the loop, at one point with half a dozen orbweavers crawling on my spider stick. Leon Sinks may be an amazing geologic wonder, but I won’t be hiking that horrifying loop ever again!
Cypress Swamp at Leon Sinks
I’ll take alligators over orbweavers any day! Click here to read about my introduction to alligator wrestling!
I would absolutely freak out – just seeing the pics gives me the heebie jeebies! Amazing pics.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww………….
Sounds like an unappealing place; would not make my bucket list!
me, neither! LOL.
Good for you for completing the hike. I would have been running all the way back to a spider free trailhead!! I quit on a hike in Jasper, Alberta recently because of the mosquitos.
I have a friend that is terrified of spiders. I’m weird, I actually like them and love your pictures of this place. Good job sticking with the hike.
Nothing worse than spider web in the face. Yuck !
I adored this post. Heh. Been there, done that. Truth is, Leon Sinks is nifty, but it’s one of those trails/areas that can be pretty dense with golden silkies and with mosquitoes (the latter being the nuisance for me). This post actually made me want to head back there. It’s a rougher version of Florida and place I haven’t been to in years!!!
My worst (okay, least favorite) hike was along the Mimbres River bed. We thought we’d head north but hit a “No Trespassing” sign pretty quick. So we turned south. And walked through a gravel pit for several miles. UG-LY.
I’ll definitely pass on this one. Actually I don’t have much of yen to return to Florida for any reason.
Gorgeous photos! When I first began this I was thinking, “It was either spiders or mosquitos that made the hike so unpleasant”. Haha, the spiders won. I have long wanted to visit this park and must soon. Yes, those great sticky webs can be a problem indeed. I once walked into one at night and had such a spasm that I went toppling right into the river to my right. I was a bit new to Florida hiking at the time. I am sure my eight-legged friend was smiling away as he busily began repairs. ‘Tis why I bring a stick or a hiking partner (I am oh so evil) to walk behind on such trails. I really am a huge spider fan, though. Reptile fan too. Aye!! Bring on the gators, we love them! Loved this. Wonderful post!!
Good for you for hanging in there and sharing your photos. So many great backpacking trips, hard for me to pick a favorite, but I’d say the most memorable and awesome was going to Pecos Falls in the Pecos Wilderness, made more memorable by getting caught in the first of the NM monsoon rains. Backpacking on the north rim of the Grand Canyon was also very awesome.
Now I feel a little creepy crawly.
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Been there and in many other areas in that part of Florida and congrads on discovering the stick-in-front of face thing. We also used broad brimmed hats too which also help with deflecting small limbs from whacking on your ears when it’s cold. These creatures are beautiful to see and are worth visiting that area.