Eastpoint, FL – Tate’s Hell State Forest, located along Florida’s Forgotten Coast, offers two loop trails and the short Ralph G. Kendrick Dwarf Cypress Boardwalk that are accessed off Highway 98 between Carrabelle and Eastpoint. The trailheads are located less than 10 miles from the Coastline RV Resort and Campground where we were staying. The state forest encompasses over 202,437 acres with approximately 107,300 acres of hydric communities such as wet prairie (contains a vast diversity of plant species), wet flatwoods, strand swamp, bottomland forest, baygall and floodplain swamp. The forest is home to rare species such as the bald eagle, Florida black bear, gopher tortoise and red-cockaded woodpecker. In addition to hiking, the State Forest offers paddling trails, salt and freshwater fishing, 5 boat ramps and 25 hand launches (canoes/kayaks). There are backcountry camps along the river paddling trail.
View of the East Trail
We were curious about the name of Tate’s Hell and came across the story of Cebe Tate:
Jebediah Tate was a superstitious farmer that lived near Carrabelle Florida. He had one son who was born just before the war and named him Cebe. Jebediah was a Civil War veteran, and his wife was half Cherokee Indian. He bought 160 acres for $5 as a homestead grant after the war.
Cebe Tate helped clear his father’s land, chased cattle, and gathered pine oil. His mother died from scarlet fever sometime after the war. It was hard going, and Cebe’s father made a pact with a local medicine man for good fortune. As long as they stayed out of the tiny cypress forest and gave him one pig a year, they would have good fortune.
For three years, they gave up a pig when the medicine man came around, and things were good. But in 1874, they decided to keep the pig and deny the old Indian. The Medicine man warned them that they would not only see hard times, but they would go through hell. That year Cebe’s father died from malaria, the pine trees gave very little oil, the sugar cane was stunted, and scrub cows started to disappear. But the pigs ate good, and multiplied so fast Cebe had to build two new pig pens in the fall.
In the spring of 1875, Cebe got married to a mail order bride from New York City. She was a fiery German Immigrant. But there was a problem, Cebe only had pigs left, and she was of the Jewish Faith. She ate corn, potatoes, and pancakes with molasses, but she wanted beef. Cebe took off into the woods to find a cow, any cow, to quiet his bride.
Armed with a shotgun and accompanied by his hunting dogs, he journeyed into the swamp in search of a cow. His dogs took off chasing a panther, and he lost his gun in the mud. Tate was lost in the swamp for seven days and nights. He went into the Dwarf Cypress stand to escape the relentless bugs, and fell asleep against the trees that were protected by the Indian’s magic. He awoke when bitten by a snake and ran blindly thru the swamp, delirious from the bite and from drinking the murky waters. Finally he came to a clearing near Carrabelle, living only long enough to murmur the words, “My name is Cebe Tate, and I just came through Hell!”
We spotted this raccoon along the road to the dwarf cypress boardwalk
Sand dune along the west trail
We hiked the two loop trails which overlap to form a figure 8 and can be hiked as one longer trail at about 9.5 miles total. The East Loop is slightly shorter at about 4 miles, but half of it is a section that is often wet, including water crossings that may or may not have a go around. The west loop is about 5.5 miles and is considered a dry trail. On the day we hiked, there were numerous water areas across the trail, we were able to go around the edge of all of them either on dry ground or using some downed logs. The areas did not seem very deep and we could have walked through them in knee high waterproof boots. Some were higher than hiking boots. During times of heavier rain, parts of these trails would become difficult to hike due to mud. The trails offered access to a range of vegetation. We saw numerous smaller birds and vultures during our hikes. Mike also spotted some deer on the west loop.
Parts of the hiking loops are on old roads used for logging
Other parts of the trails are more of a traditional hiking trail
A typical water crossing on the East Trail’s wet section
Access to the Ralph G. Kendrick Dwarf Cypress Boardwalk is from either Highway 98 or 65. The trail is a short 0.25 mile elevated boardwalk. Tate’s Hell State Forest has many small roads, a map is recommended. We entered from Highway 65 onto North Road which we followed until turning right onto Dry Bridge Road. From Highway 65 the route to the boardwalk is 4.5 miles. Every source we encountered recommended not driving the roads, which were not paved, during wetter times. The dwarf cypress are over 150 years old, but are only 15 feet high. We enjoyed the elevated view over the swamp. Current science suggests that poorly drained, nutrient deficient soils contributes to the size of the trees.
Dwarf cypress trees in the foreground are only 15 feet tall
