Old Fort King Trail lies near the original Fort King Road, which during the Second Seminole War served as the main transportation and communication route between Fort Brooke in Tampa and the Seminole Agency at Fort King in Ocala. Following an old Indian trail, the road is believed to be part of the route taken by Hernando DeSoto on his expedition of conquest in the 1540s. In 1835, Seminole warriors ambushed Major Francis Dade's detachment as they marched to Fort King to enforce a controversial treaty removing the Seminole Tribe, and Dade's Battle ignited the Second Seminole War. Fort Foster was established in 1836 to safeguard the bridge carrying Fort King Road across the Hillsborough River, and remnants of the road can be seen at the Fort Foster historic site in Hillsborough River State Park.