Deep Creek Preserve - New Smyrna Beach, FL
Posted by: 
Janila
N 28° 57.080 W 081° 05.840
17R E 490515 N 3202598
Deep Creek Preserve is located on the west side of Rt 415 south of Rt 44 and north of Osteen.
Waymark Code: WMZ65F
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 09/16/2018
Views: 6
This former cattle ranch and pine plantation is now playing an important part in the ecological life of Volusia County. Per their website (
visit link) this property plays a part : "as a key component toward the goal of acquiring a connected wildlife greenway through the Volusia Conservation Corridor. In addition to conservation value, the property provides the opportunity to establish water resource facilities on the Preserve in order to minimize impacts to Blue Spring, located adjacent to the St. Johns River"
I have rarely passed this location when there were not cars in the parking lot and I always assumed that the cars belonged to hunters and I would pass right by. However, I am unable to find any indication that hunting is allowed in the preserve. There is a 3 year contract which had been set up with the Deep Creek Sportsmen's Club but it expires in October 2018 and there is nothing that I can find stating it would be renewed. What I did find was that the property has been "deemed suitable for certain hunting programs." (
visit link)
The day that I stopped to take a walk, I didn't even get into the woods. The trail leading from the parking area to the woods was under water and the people coming out of the trails were covered in mud. It is safe to say that you WILL encounter muddy trails at some point in your walk here.
As I was looking at the mud, a county sheriff pulled in and we had a nice chat about the preserve. As we were talking, a formation of four small planes passed over several times, I have included a picture of them in my gallery. The sheriff told me that there is an airplane community nearby called the Spruce Creek Fly-In Community. He said it is not unusual to see these neighbors flying together over the preserve. It was fun to watch them and wonder how they could fly so close together without touching each other.