EDITOR'S NOTE:We've divided the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management into two sections, the Hungryland Boardwalk and Trail and the North Entrance on the Beeline Highway. A lot of the information below deals with Corbett as a whole, but the focus of this page, including all the photographs, deals with the area associated with the Hungryland and southeast portions of the WMA. For our page on the North Entrance on the Beeline Highway, click here.
Overview: At 60,478 acres, J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area is the second-largest conservation area in Palm Beach County. It is, arguably, the wildest. Combined with neighboring Dupuis Wildlife and Environmental Area and nearby Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area and you have nearly 100,000 acres of pristine, protected lands, one of the largest such swaths east of Lake Okeechobee. It is "one of the largest remaining transition zones (ecotones) between the pine flatwoods of the interior and the sawgrass marshes of the Everglades."
If you haven't been to Corbett, the Hungryland entrance is a good place to start. There is the Cypress Swamp Boardwalk and trail, a 1.2-mile loop through a cypress dome swamp and flatwoods. It's also an easy place to pick up the Florida Trail as it cuts through beautiful pine flatwoods and opens up to acres and acres of marsh and wet prairies. It's also a good place to start a driving tour through Corbett; the road, Stumper's Grade, is unpaved but passable for passenger cars without permanently damaging their suspensions.
J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area is an outdoor person's paradise. Hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, bird-watching, nature photography, paddling, if you so choose. It is a haven for Florida's native flora and fauna, some of which are rare enough to be listed as endangered or threatened. But this land is vitally important to every single one of us, as it protects South Florida's most vital natural resource: its water.
History: The land that makes up the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area is a part of the Hungryland Slough, which once fed water to the Northern Everglades and the Loxahatchee River. Seminoles took refuge here after their defeat at the Battle of Loxahatchee during the Second Seminole War in 1838. They named it the Hungryland because of the scarcity of food and the difficulty of eaking out a living. The land wasn't much kinder to European settlers, who later tried to raise cattle here and grow citrus.
In 1902, the Southern States Land and Timber Co. bought 2 million acres in the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee, including the land that is now Corbett. The New Orleans-based company would sell off the land over the next 50 years. Florida bought 52,000 acres from Southern States in 1947, subsequently establishing the WMA. Corbett is one of the oldest wildlife management areas in the state. Florida would continue to add land through purchases, land swaps and donations, until Corbett reached its present size. It is named after James Wiley Corbett, a conservationist and former member of the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission who played a key role in preserving the land.
It should be noted here that there is archeological evidence in the form of Big Mound City and Big Gopher of early Floridians inhabiting Corbett hundreds, if not thousands, of years before Ponce de Leon took his first steps on the Peninsula.
What You'll See: It becomes quickly apparent even amidst the driest of the dry season that Corbett is a very wet place. How wet you ask? Nearly 85 percent of its land is classified as either depression marsh, mesic flatwoods, strand swamp or wet flatwoods. Because of its relative remoteness, the possibilities of what might be encountered are wide: Florida panther? Not likely but not impossible. Black bear? Same deal. They don't live here, but but one could wander through. More likely sightings: white-tailed deer, seen in the photo above, wild hogs, plenty of torn up turf to indicate their presence, maybe a river otter or two.
In the skies, look for snail kites patroling the marshes for their favorite shelled snacks. Red-shouldered hawks are here. In spring and early summer, keen-eyed swallow-tailed kites scan the ground for prey to feed their broods. J.W. Corbett is one of the few places in South Florida where one might spot a red-cockaded woodpecker. We've seen wild turkeys, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays and more.
Corbett offers a bounty of wildflowers, especially along the Florida Trail and the Cypress Swamp/Hungryland Boardwalk. Carnivous pink sundew, pine hyacinth, Baldwin's milkwort, pine pink and tuberous grasspink orchids, yellow colicroot, low pinebarren milkwort, were among the dozens of species we spotted. For more, check out the photo gallery near the bottom of the page.
Amenities: There are literally miles and miles of trails, starting with the Hungryland — Cypress Swamp Boardwalk and the Florida Trail, both accessible from the parking lot. The boardwalk is a loop trail, maybe an hour's walk at a leisurely pace. There's plenty of parking, and restrooms at the parking lot. There are numerous designated primative campsites.
Nearby: The Hungryland Slough Natural Area neighbors J.W. Corbett and the entrance is only a minute or so away. Driving along Northlake Boulevard, you'll pass Grassy Waters Preserve. Dupuis Wildlife and Environmental Area lies directly to the west, but there is no access from Corbett. To get there, you'll have to take the Beeline Highway and cross into Martin County. Same with the Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area.
Links: The Great Florida Birding Trail's take on J.W. Corbett is here; the Institute for Regional Conservation's inventory of plants for the wildlife management area is here. Both links are for the entire WMA. The Friends of Corbett is here.
Of Note: JW Corbett is open 24 hours every day of the year. There is an entrance fee paid on an honor system. Be a bit careful where you drive. The main roads are open to vehicles throughout the year, but there are side roads that are open only during hunting seasons. Many of these roads are impassable by most passenger vehicles but some look fairly inviting. Feel free to hike down these roads. Also feel free to drive along the roads leading to designated campgrounds.
Cover Photo: Two white-tailed deer pause for a second after scampering through a meadow and before disappearing into the woods just beyond them. Second Photo: Plants along this section of the Florida Trail have mostly recovered after a prescribed burn in the relatively recent past. Land managers use fire in a controlled way to mimic the natural cycle of lightning-caused burns and subsequent recovery as a means of keeping Corbett healthy. Third Photo: A small cypress swamp at the height of the dry season.
Overview: At 60,478 acres, J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area is the second-largest conservation area in Palm Beach County. It is, arguably, the wildest. Combined with neighboring Dupuis Wildlife and Environmental Area and nearby Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area and you have nearly 100,000 acres of pristine, protected lands, one of the largest such swaths east of Lake Okeechobee. It is "one of the largest remaining transition zones (ecotones) between the pine flatwoods of the interior and the sawgrass marshes of the Everglades."
If you haven't been to Corbett, the Hungryland entrance is a good place to start. There is the Cypress Swamp Boardwalk and trail, a 1.2-mile loop through a cypress dome swamp and flatwoods. It's also an easy place to pick up the Florida Trail as it cuts through beautiful pine flatwoods and opens up to acres and acres of marsh and wet prairies. It's also a good place to start a driving tour through Corbett; the road, Stumper's Grade, is unpaved but passable for passenger cars without permanently damaging their suspensions.
J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area is an outdoor person's paradise. Hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, bird-watching, nature photography, paddling, if you so choose. It is a haven for Florida's native flora and fauna, some of which are rare enough to be listed as endangered or threatened. But this land is vitally important to every single one of us, as it protects South Florida's most vital natural resource: its water.
History: The land that makes up the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area is a part of the Hungryland Slough, which once fed water to the Northern Everglades and the Loxahatchee River. Seminoles took refuge here after their defeat at the Battle of Loxahatchee during the Second Seminole War in 1838. They named it the Hungryland because of the scarcity of food and the difficulty of eaking out a living. The land wasn't much kinder to European settlers, who later tried to raise cattle here and grow citrus.
In 1902, the Southern States Land and Timber Co. bought 2 million acres in the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee, including the land that is now Corbett. The New Orleans-based company would sell off the land over the next 50 years. Florida bought 52,000 acres from Southern States in 1947, subsequently establishing the WMA. Corbett is one of the oldest wildlife management areas in the state. Florida would continue to add land through purchases, land swaps and donations, until Corbett reached its present size. It is named after James Wiley Corbett, a conservationist and former member of the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission who played a key role in preserving the land.
It should be noted here that there is archeological evidence in the form of Big Mound City and Big Gopher of early Floridians inhabiting Corbett hundreds, if not thousands, of years before Ponce de Leon took his first steps on the Peninsula.
What You'll See: It becomes quickly apparent even amidst the driest of the dry season that Corbett is a very wet place. How wet you ask? Nearly 85 percent of its land is classified as either depression marsh, mesic flatwoods, strand swamp or wet flatwoods. Because of its relative remoteness, the possibilities of what might be encountered are wide: Florida panther? Not likely but not impossible. Black bear? Same deal. They don't live here, but but one could wander through. More likely sightings: white-tailed deer, seen in the photo above, wild hogs, plenty of torn up turf to indicate their presence, maybe a river otter or two.
In the skies, look for snail kites patroling the marshes for their favorite shelled snacks. Red-shouldered hawks are here. In spring and early summer, keen-eyed swallow-tailed kites scan the ground for prey to feed their broods. J.W. Corbett is one of the few places in South Florida where one might spot a red-cockaded woodpecker. We've seen wild turkeys, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays and more.
Corbett offers a bounty of wildflowers, especially along the Florida Trail and the Cypress Swamp/Hungryland Boardwalk. Carnivous pink sundew, pine hyacinth, Baldwin's milkwort, pine pink and tuberous grasspink orchids, yellow colicroot, low pinebarren milkwort, were among the dozens of species we spotted. For more, check out the photo gallery near the bottom of the page.
Amenities: There are literally miles and miles of trails, starting with the Hungryland — Cypress Swamp Boardwalk and the Florida Trail, both accessible from the parking lot. The boardwalk is a loop trail, maybe an hour's walk at a leisurely pace. There's plenty of parking, and restrooms at the parking lot. There are numerous designated primative campsites.
Nearby: The Hungryland Slough Natural Area neighbors J.W. Corbett and the entrance is only a minute or so away. Driving along Northlake Boulevard, you'll pass Grassy Waters Preserve. Dupuis Wildlife and Environmental Area lies directly to the west, but there is no access from Corbett. To get there, you'll have to take the Beeline Highway and cross into Martin County. Same with the Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area.
Links: The Great Florida Birding Trail's take on J.W. Corbett is here; the Institute for Regional Conservation's inventory of plants for the wildlife management area is here. Both links are for the entire WMA. The Friends of Corbett is here.
Of Note: JW Corbett is open 24 hours every day of the year. There is an entrance fee paid on an honor system. Be a bit careful where you drive. The main roads are open to vehicles throughout the year, but there are side roads that are open only during hunting seasons. Many of these roads are impassable by most passenger vehicles but some look fairly inviting. Feel free to hike down these roads. Also feel free to drive along the roads leading to designated campgrounds.
Cover Photo: Two white-tailed deer pause for a second after scampering through a meadow and before disappearing into the woods just beyond them. Second Photo: Plants along this section of the Florida Trail have mostly recovered after a prescribed burn in the relatively recent past. Land managers use fire in a controlled way to mimic the natural cycle of lightning-caused burns and subsequent recovery as a means of keeping Corbett healthy. Third Photo: A small cypress swamp at the height of the dry season.
