Most people entering Ocala National Forest from the east drive north through Palatka, cross the river at the highway bridge, and follow paved state roads in from the west. The route works. It also means you arrive at the forest the same way everybody else does — from the front, through the gate everybody knows about, having passed nothing on the way that made you pull over. There is another way in. South of Welaka, where the St. Johns River widens just below Little Lake George, a corridor of longleaf pine forest and spring-fed creeks runs along the eastern bank. A car ferry has crossed here since before the Civil War. The forest behind it holds trails that don't appear on the tourist maps and a swimming hole that requires nothing but a pair of shoes and the willingness to walk.

Fort Gates Ferry has been crossing the St. Johns River since 1853, making it the oldest ferry service still registered in Florida and one of only four remaining in the state. The crossing itself takes about ten minutes — a barge pushed by a converted 1910 Sharpie sailboat named Too Wendy, carrying two to four vehicles at a time across roughly a mile of open river just downstream of Lake George.

The eastern landing sits at Gateway Fish Camp near Fruitland Cove, off Fort Gates Ferry Road south of Pomona Park. The western landing deposits you onto Forest Service Road 43 in the Ocala National Forest, within reach of Salt Springs. When the ferry runs, it saves roughly fifty miles of driving compared to the paved route through Palatka or around through Astor. The Confederate Army operated it during the Civil War. A Nissan commercial once featured Paul Newman riding it across.

The ferry route is part of the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway, a national scenic byway that threads through this stretch of the Ocala forest.

A necessary note: Hurricane Irma damaged the ferry landing in 2017, and service has been intermittent since. Local groups and the operators at Gateway Fish Camp have been working toward restoration, but operational status changes. Call Gateway Fish Camp at 386-467-2411 before planning a trip around the crossing. The landscape on both sides of the river hasn't changed. The ferry's schedule has.

Welaka State Forest sits on the eastern bank of the St. Johns River, protecting more than four miles of forested waterfront along Little Lake George. The 2,287-acre forest is managed by the Florida Forest Service and carries two distinctions that matter to visitors who care about where they walk: it's part of the Great Florida Birding Trail, and it follows the route that William Bartram documented during his 1774 expedition down the St. Johns.

The forest is bisected by County Road 309. Everything west of the road — the hiking trails, the springs, the river frontage — faces the water. Everything east — the equestrian campground, the sandhill trails, the horse arenas — faces the interior pine country. Two completely different forests separated by a two-lane road.

Day use costs two dollars per person, paid on the honor system at the trailhead. The forest is open sunrise to sunset.

The spring at the heart of the hiking side earned its name from the light-colored sandy bottom that clouds briefly when disturbed. The water itself is clear. A 4th-magnitude spring, Mud Spring discharges roughly 14,000 gallons per hour into an oval pool roughly 85 by 65 feet and about four feet deep, with a gentle sand boil at its center feeding a half-mile spring run down to the St. Johns River.

The Mud Spring Trail loops through pine flatwoods and hardwood hammock for about 1.75 miles, with the spring appearing early in the circuit — less than half a mile from the trailhead. A picnic pavilion and restroom sit near the water — contrary to what some older guides report, there are facilities here. Swimming is permitted. Dogs are welcome on leash.

What you won't find: crowds. A TripAdvisor reviewer noted being the only visitors on the trail. A St. Johns Riverkeeper educator called it one of her favorite family destinations precisely because most people have never heard of it. The spring itself is free-flowing, unenclosed, and surrounded by forest — no concrete walls, no roped-off areas, no lifeguard. You swim at the spring's terms.

The day use fee is two dollars per person. The trailhead sits directly across CR 309 from the forest headquarters.

South along CR 309, about a mile past the Mud Spring trailhead, the John's Landing Trail begins at the fire tower site. This 4.3-mile loop follows old forest roads through the interior, reaching two primitive campsites — John's Landing and Orange Point — both set along shaded bluffs overlooking Little Lake George.

The trail is named for John Bartram, the Philadelphia botanist who documented this landing site in 1765 — nine years before his son William returned to catalog the same landscapes in detail. The William Bartram St. Johns River Loop, at five miles, connects both Bartram landing sites and traces the bluffs along the river. It's the most immersive trail in the forest: ecotone transitions from pine flatwoods to hardwood hammock to floodplain, with the river appearing and disappearing through the canopy.

Both trails are included in the Florida Forest Service's Trailwalker Program. Expect soft, sandy footing after rain — the terrain here drains slowly through wet flatwoods.

The eastern half of Welaka State Forest operates as one of Florida's most developed state forest equestrian facilities. The Sandhill Horse Trail runs a six-mile loop through longleaf pine sandhills, and the broader trail network extends to roughly eighteen to twenty miles of multi-use paths. The equestrian campground holds forty-eight horse stalls, a show arena, a training arena, five full-hookup RV sites on concrete pads, and six primitive tent campsites.

The Sandhill Horse Trail is part of the Florida Trailtrotter Program. Equestrian events run periodically — the campground books months in advance during event weekends. All horses require proof of current negative Coggins test on state lands.

For travelers without horses, the equestrian side is a separate world from the hiking trails.

Welaka State Forest headquarters sit on CR 309, about six and a half miles south of the US 17/CR 309 intersection in Satsuma. From Palatka, the drive south on US 17 to Satsuma takes roughly fifteen minutes; the turn onto CR 309 and the drive to the forest office adds another ten.

The Mud Spring trailhead is directly across from the headquarters. The John's Landing trailhead is another 1.2 miles south on CR 309. The equestrian area is accessed from a forest road behind the headquarters, about a half-mile east.

Fort Gates Ferry Road branches off to the west, leading to the ferry landing at Gateway Fish Camp on the river.

The forest roads on the Ocala National Forest side (if the ferry is running) are unpaved, sandy, and rough. Some routes may require high-clearance vehicles. The drive from SR-19 at Salt Springs to the western ferry landing covers about seven miles of forest road through terrain that sees minimal traffic.

The south corridor from Welaka doesn't announce itself. There's no entrance arch, no welcome center, no themed signage. What it assembles, quietly, is a sequence: a state forest with trails the Bartrams would still recognize, a spring that rewards a short walk with water clear enough to count grains of sand, an equestrian facility that serious riders travel hours to use, and a ferry crossing that — when it runs — turns a practical shortcut into the most memorable ten minutes of your trip.

The ferry may or may not be crossing when you arrive. The forest will be there either way.