John M. Bethea State Forest

John M. Bethea State Forest
Office for the John M. Bethea State Forest
Location within Florida Show map of Florida Location within the United States Show map of the United States
Location	Baker County, Florida
Nearest city	Sanderson, Florida
Coordinates	30°30′N 82°19′W / 30.50°N 82.31°W / 30.50; -82.31
Area	37,736 acres (152.71 km²)
Established	2001
Governing body	Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Forest Service

John M. Bethea State Forest is a 37,736-acre state forest north of Sanderson, Florida, in northern Baker County near the Florida/Georgia border. It provides a wildlife corridor between the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Osceola National Forest. The area was acquired by the State of Florida in 2001, and was named after a former employee of The Florida Forest Service who served as State Forester between 1970 and 1987.^[1]

Jon Bethea State Forest land has been used for timber production, naval stores, and livestock grazing. The primary natural forest community in the State Forest is mesic flatwoods and bason swamp, with wet flatwoods, dome swamp, floodplain forest and basin marsh making up the remainder of the area. Some alteration of the lands had occurred prior to state ownership to increase timber production. The Florida Forest Service will focus on restoring areas to historical status where possible.

Recreation

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The forest offers access for recreational activities such as hiking, camping, hunting, horseback riding, and fishing.^[2]

References

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↑ John M. Bethea State Forest Florida Forest Service
↑ Services, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer. "Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services". www.fdacs.gov. Retrieved April 6, 2026.

External links

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John M. Bethea State Forest - official site
U.S. Geological Survey Map at the U.S. Geological Survey Map Website. Retrieved January 6, 2023.

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National Estuarine Research Reserves	Apalachicola Guana Tolomato Matanzas Rookery Bay
National Fish Hatcheries	Welaka
National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National Marine Sanctuaries	Florida Keys
National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National Preserves	Big Cypress Timucuan Ecological
National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National Trails	Florida
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River
National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Three Sisters Springs Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other	National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks National Register of Historic Places Wilderness Areas

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Price's Scrub Sebastian Inlet Shoal River Headwaters Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Marks River St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Addison Blockhouse Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Hilochee Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Blowing Rocks Boyd Hill Corkscrew Swamp Gumbo Limbo Moccasin Lake Split Oak Forest Weedon Island

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Recreation

See also

References

External links