Welcome to
Werner-Boyce
Salt Springs State Park - Florida's newest state park - located
along the west coast of Pasco County. Only a small section of the
park is open for landside access, with an entrance off Scenic
Drive. However, the park is open for exploration by kayak or canoe.
With over four miles of frontage on the Gulf of Mexico, natural
springs, and twelve navigable streams to explore, it is truly a
kayaker's dream come true. For more information about the park,
visit the official park service webpage at floridastateparks.org/wernerboyce.
Currently, there are no kayak launch points within the park. Once
the main entrance to the park (on the west side of U.S. 19 just
north of Ridge Road) is opened, a kayak launch facility is planned.
But for now, the nearest launch point for access to the southern
part of the Park is at Brasher Park at the end of Koons Road in
Port Richey - shown as a yellow pushpin on the park map. See the
first cache in this series (GC2WGQN)
for a waypoint listing of the launch location.
Note: the north extension of Old Post Road leads to the Pasco
County Energy Marine Center (owned by Pasco County Schools) and the
State Park headquarters, and is not a public road. There are no
publicly accessible kayak/canoe launch sites in this
area.
This Double Hammock Creek kayak series takes you an ambitious 7-1/2
mile (not including return trip) tour of the largest stream in the
park. There are 18 caches in the series - illustrated by pink
pushpins in the map below. All are match holders tethered in place.
Some may only be accessible at medium to high tide. Bring enough
water, snacks and sunscreen to last all day. If you are not an
experienced kayaker, you should probably plan at least two
trips.
Note: All of the geocaches in this series may be accessed
without leaving your boat. In fact, there are very few places in
the wetlands area where land access is convenient. While kayak and
canoe access to the park is welcomed, please respect the natural
habitats and nesting areas by refraining from hiking and exploring
on foot in the wetlands area.
Cache #9 in the series is placed up a small trail about as far east
as you can go on the south branch of Double Hammock Creek. You'll
need a fairly high tide to get to this one. The houses you see in
this area are at the end of Salt Springs Road that extends west
behind Gulfview Square Mall. In case you are wondering, there are
no public kayak launch points to Double Hammock Creek from the
road.
Geocaches were placed with permission of Larry Steed, park
manager.
Congratulations to swampmuck for the
FTF!