Volusia County has many nice places to take a hike. One of them is Deep Creek Preserve, located at 946 State Rte 415 in New Smyrna Beach. This is a place where you can go hiking, mountain biking, and even do some trail running!

We have been to Deep Creek Preserve numerous times over the years. We've taken hikes, attended nature classes and activities, and have went on an eco-buggy ride with the Explore Volusia program. It's a nice place to check out whether with a formal group or just with your family. 

When you pull into Deep Creek Preserve you will find a parking lot and kiosk with signage about the trails. The yellow trail shows it is around 4.6 miles, however it is really more like 5 miles, because there is a .25 mile walk back to where the trail begins. The yellow trail begins where the little nature center building is located. We have taken numerous nature classes in that building over the years. We started the yellow trail by going to the right, which takes you along the property line. There is a barbed wire fence on the right hand side and beyond it is a creek and beyond that are some backyards to those who live over there. 

Continuing on the path you will follow the signs to start making slight turns, as the yellow trail is a loop. It takes you out into the open (so take sunscreen or a hat), and then back in by the trees. You will come to a crossing where there is a service road and to the right you can see a cow pasture with lots of cows in it. The yellow trail continues straight and will loop back around to that same service road after about a half a mile. We started to walk down that part, but we decided against it. That half a mile area had recently been overturned, so the soil is a mess, making it difficult to navigate. We decided from where the cows are to just take the service road back. After a half a mile the yellow trail intersects again and you can follow that back around to the end of the trail. 

There is also a longer trail that is over 9 miles and one that is shorter, giving you the ability to plan a shorter hike if you prefer to. 

Along the way we saw beautiful trees, sundew (the red carnivorous plant pictured below), lots of birds, swamp, slash pine, etc. It was a very nice walk and the yellow trail was nicely blazed so there was no question as to which way to go. There are some benches along the trail that you can stop at to take a break and have a drink or snack. Note that there are no restrooms, so plan accordingly. 

You can plan a shorter hike, longer hike, or take the mountain bikes over to do some riding. The service road trails would also make a great place to take a trail run.