Dr. Tom's Eco Tours - call 1 850 224 1435 to enroll Download Dr. Tom's Eco Tours (PDF format) including tour descriptions, fees, and registration form. This also explains how to prepare, where we meet, and so on.   For an authentic local ecotourism experience, join scientist, explorer, photographer, and educator Thomas Eads on a tour of north central Florida’s gem-like wildlife communities.   Each tour has a theme, but it takes shape around your interests. Stimulate your mind, senses, and imagination while supporting natural heritage. Limited to 6 people. Kids 5th grade and up OK with supervising adult.   Activities include walking, wildlife viewing, interactive talks about ecology, photography. Bring enrichment tools like field guides, binoculars, camera, notepad, or sketchbook.   Round trip times run from 4 to 9 hours from Tallahassee.             Eco Tour Communities Features Best Seasons   Tallahassee Hills Pine grasslands, dry flatwoods, hardwood hammocks, clastic lakes Plantation history, rolling hills, big oaks and pines, quail, old fields, gopher tortoise, fox squirrel Early Spring thru late Fall   Apalachee Savannahs Pine grasslands, wet flatwoods, herb bogs, shrub bogs, seepage streams, cypress swamp Insectivorous plants, bog amphibians, St. Johns Wort, abundant wildflowers, historic small towns Spring thru Fall   Apalachicola River Bluffs and Ravines River bluffs, forested ravines, steephead streams, upland pine forests, slope forests Pine – turkey oak – wiregrass scrub; beech, hickory, magnolia, holly; sweeping views of river; shady ravines; woodland birds, reptiles, and amphibians All seasons   Apalachicola River Floodplain Floodplain forests, swamps, and lakes Towering tupelos, muddy water, oxbow lakes, dark soils, water-loving plants Spring, Summer, Fall   Marianna Lowlands Terrestrial caves, springs and spring-runs, floodplain forest Caves, swimming hole, 6’ tupelo knees, bats, limestone outcroppings, southern reach of Appalachian wildlife All seasons   Woodville Karst Springs, spring-fed rivers, basin swamps, sinkholes, sandhill lakes Gorgeous springs, mysterious sinkholes, historic lodge, grand cypress and gum trees, highly diverse flora and fauna All seasons   Wakulla County Coast Pine flatwoods, hydric hammocks, tidal swamps, flatwood lakes, tidal marsh Springs in Gulf, palm forest, wading and shorebirds, migrant waterfowl, lighthouses, coastal villages Fall, Winter, Spring Franklin County Coast Beach, dune, coastal grassland, maritime hammock, tidal marsh Barrier island structure, salt-adapted flora, fauna, shorebirds, migrant waterfowl, coastal villages Fall, Winter, Spring © 2000-2006 Thomas Martin Eads v.040506