Goethe State Forest

Goethe State Forest
Goethe State Forest
	Goethe State Forest as seen from FL 121 westbound, March 2019
Location	Levy and Alachua counties, Florida
Nearest city	Dunnellon
Coordinates	29°13′07″N 82°34′39″W / 29.218703°N 82.577477°W
Area	53,398 acres (216.19 km2)
Administered by	Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

The Goethe State Forest is in the U.S. state of Florida. The 53,398-acre (216 km²) forest is located near the gulf coast, northwest of Dunnellon. Four trailheads are located on County Road 337. The main trail usage is equestrian, both riders and carts. Goethe is known for its population of red cockaded woodpeckers, a rare bird endemic to the longleaf pine forests of the southeastern coastal plain.^[1]

The forest was established in 1992 and named for James Tillinghast Goethe (1897–1993),^[2] a local lumber company owner who donated most of his land to the state for preservation.^[3] Other tracts of the land were purchased separately in 2010.

The main tract of the forest is also co-managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which declares it the Goethe Wildlife Management Area.^[4] The Watermelon Pond tracts were purchased by the FWC in 2007 and merged with the forest in 2010.^[5]

Nearby wildlife management areas assisting in the preservation of land in southwestern Levy County includes Gulf Hammock Wildlife Management Area, Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park, Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve, and Devils Hammock Wildlife Management Area.