Goethe State Forest

The Goethe Giant, a giant cypress tree that is over 900 years old and 105 feet tall located in the Goethe State Forest.
I got directions from a blog I found and was using that plus the Longitude and Latitude as there is no address for this location. We end up doing pretty well finding where we are supposed to be going and got to the dirt road as described. I am thinking a dirt road would probably be okay to drive on in my Corolla… until we get there. The road is not quite wide enough for two cars and is filled with pot holes! It is around 3 miles and takes about 8 mins to drive. We were only going like 10 — 20 miles an hour and it was raining. The holes were hard to see until you were right on top of them. Nowhere in anything I researched did it say that you needed a truck to visit this tree! I would definitely suggest it.
We finally saw the sign (the sign is easy to spot) and parked in the grass. We had to maneuver some puddles but once we got closer there is a boardwalk that leads to the tree. The area is very swampy and the tree’s base is sitting in water.
The tree itself is beautiful. Many of the trees in the area were harvested but this giant was left alone because it had too many knots and imperfections. Read more about it in our blog

The Goethe State Forest was created from land purchased from J.T. Goethe in 1992, making it a fairly new addition to Florida’s public lands. One of the first things people need to understand about a State Forest parcel vs a State Park is that while State Parks are only maintained for purposes of recreation and conservation, in a State Forest, timbering may also be active on a lease basis and hunting and fishing are (with appropriate licenses) allowed. As the Goethe lands were used for timber production over the years and some still are, this is not exclusively pristine forest with no human intrusions, however with that said, it is a vast tract of land (multiple tracts, actually) and it provides a lot of tranquil space to get lost in and view wildlife. For people interested in a primitive camping experience and the chance to probably view some wildlife, Goethe is a good bet.
The Apex Trailhead is one of the best ways of entering the Goethe Forest while the Big Cypress Boardwalk offers a rare chance to walk through a cypress ecosystem. Much of the Goethe Forest is pine flatlands – the type of north-​central Florida land used for years for timber and turpentine production – but there are swampy areas too that are alluring to explore. Again, the sheer size and isolation of this forest are impressive: if you wish to forego the modern camping experience where you bring your RV or stay in a cabin and the campground offers a swimming pool and who knows what all else; if you wish to get truly back to nature and see what Florida would have looked like a century ago, this is the place.