Walk the Interpretive Trail

a grass path extends through pine trees past an interpretive sign

The visitor center is closed. The trail is open.

Visitors to Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park don't have to wait for the reenactment to learn about the Union and Confederate soldiers who fought here. The park is open year-round, 365 days a year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a visitor center, trails and monument guide visitors through the battle in February in 1864.

Your first stop is the Confederate memorial, a towering stone obelisk erected by the Daughters of the American Confederacy to the fallen of the battle. Several cannons dot the field around the memorial, and a smaller Union Memorial is located toward the front of the park.

Next, explore the visitor center with exhibits containing actual artifacts and telling the story of the campaign that led up to the Battle of Olustee. A short video of the annual reenactment provides a visual to help understand what happened at this site.

Hike the mile-long interpretive trail that tells the story of the Battle of Olustee campaign. Interpretive panels guide you through a small portion of the battlefield and help you envision the movements of brave troops on the very ground in which they stood during the largest conflict fought in Florida during the Civil War.

The first sign provides a map of the walking trail and the route you will take, while another urges you to think about the sense of anticipation the soldiers must have felt on the eve of battle.

reenactors dressed as union soldiers push a cannon through a thick pine forest

The events of the conflict are played out by various panels from the point of view of both Union and Confederate soldiers, including excerpts from the journals and letters of the men who fought here.

There are options to take additional side trails. Eventually you come back to where you started, pleasantly tired from your mile hike and more versed in the history of Olustee.

Other trails include the Nice Wander Trail and a section of the Florida Trail that traverses the park and leads to additional areas to look for wildlife and explore the nature and history of this place of remembrance for the fallen of Olustee.