Moses Creek Conservation Area Offers Pleasant Hiking Near St. Augustine—But Don’t Count on Backcountry Camping There

With hunting season limiting my access to many of my favorite stretches of the Florida Trail last weekend, I tried to make up for the opportunity I lost last spring to camp beside the intracoastal at St. George Island State Park and booked a reservation at the Murat Point campsite at the Moses Creek Conservation Area. Although I was treated to pleasant hiking with some gorgeous views of a tidal creek emptying into the Matanzas River, I met an unpleasant surprise at the end of my 5.7-mile hike into camp that forced me to make an unplanned return home. Still, Moses Creek is a great place for families to hike, particularly along the shorter White and Yellow Trails near the southeastern trailhead.

Lying several miles south of St. Augustine along State Road 206, Moses Creek Conservation Area sits on 2,000 acres of rare undeveloped land abutting the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (specifically, the stretch of estuary near St. Augustine called the Matanzas River). Huddled around its namesake tiny tributary and managed by St. John’s County, the preserve allows visitors to explore one of the few remaining unblemished tidal creeks in the region and is accessible by foot, mountain bike, or small watercraft.  It also contains 7 miles of hiking trails—more than you would expect on such a small parcel of land.

The main attraction here, besides proximity to the tourist attractions in St. Augustine, is the meandering creek itself. Although there are only four overlooks accessible from the trails, the views there are eye-pleasing to say the least. The surrounding civilization is either hidden by forest or far across the Matanzas, so this is one of the few places near Florida’s busy beaches to catch a glimpse of a tidal waterway as it might have appeared when settlers first arrived. And although it can be reached from the Matanzas by boat, the creek is too narrow and shallow to draw high volumes of noisy motor craft that might otherwise detract from the natural beauty.

The family-friendly trails also offer a surprising variety of terrain for a tract of its size. Within four miles of setting off from either trailhead, you’ll pass through messic flatwoods, scrub and scrubby pine flatwoods, and sandhills, and even cross a few creeks on sturdy bridges. Although the trails remain almost entirely along wide jeep tracks with a fair amount of soft sugar sand (including a nearly mile-long stretch of the Red Trail beneath a powerline), the tradeoff is the frequency and visibility of blazes that simplify navigation.  Even after dark, it’s easy to find your way along these trails with little risk of getting lost.

The one major disappointment I had was the Murat Point campsite, and it wasn’t its setting or appearance. St. John’s County technically requires campers to reserve Moses Creek’s two campsites for free on its website, including the group campsite at Braddock’s Point near the eastern trailhead and the 6-tent maximum primitive campsite at Murat’s Point almost 6 miles from both trailheads. But when I arrived at Murat’s Point after 2 hours of hiking with my reservation on my phone, I found a group of more than 12 campers with at least 8 tents spread among the beer boxes and coolers. When I mentioned my reservation, they laughed and said they’d been camping there before and had never heard of any reservation requirement. They did not appear to be squatters and I did not feel unsafe, but with quiet serenity unavailable, I knew it was time to go home.

My experience may have been unusual, but given the proximity of accessible dirt roads and nearby neighborhoods, I suspect the backcountry site is popular with locals on weekends and that the camping restrictions are not well enforced. So unless you’re prepared to add an unplanned 6-mile hike out to your 6-mile hike in like I did, you’re probably better off not trying to backpack there.

But Moses Creek Conservation Area is still a pleasant place to catch a few quiet hours of natural beauty away from the herds of tourists at the fort, beaches, and souvenir shops if you’re on a holiday in St. Augustine.