Your guide to Florida's outdoors, by Sandra Friend, Florida's hiking expert, and her co-author John Keatley, covering the Florida Trail and other trails throughout Florida.
Hi, we're Sandra and John. We're Florida authors who enjoy the outdoors as a couple. Looking for places to hike, bike, camp, and paddle? Dig in! We share our adventures and the destinations we find to inspire, inform, and engage you with the outdoors.
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Dig in deeper by topic: Accessible. Dog-friendly. Kid-friendly. Nature Trails. Scenic Hikes. State Parks. Florida Trail
Florida is different. Stretching 1,400 miles from the edge of the Everglades to Pensacola Beach, the Florida Trail is one of only 11 National Scenic Trails across America. It starts in a swamp, and ends on a beach. What you'll see in between will give you a new appreciation for natural Florida.
Learn about this fantastic statewide resource for backpacking and hiking and join us for a workshop to see what our state's longest trail has to offer and to get your questions answered. We wrote the book!
Get the Book Get the App Plan your hikePlanning a future THRU-HIKE or SECTION HIKE? Join Florida Trail Hikers to connect with other hikers past and present.
Plan a backpacking trip, a day hike, or a trip with a Scout troop on the Florida Trail.
Explore the Florida Trail Get Trail Conditions updatesA random sampling of some of our favorite trails, parks, and campgrounds across the state of Florida. See the full list here. You can search for outdoor destinations by using our interactive map, or scroll to the bottom of any page to find destinations by region or city.
Providing a gracious gift of more than 5,000 archival image scans of trails and travel throughout Florida and the world, which you'll see scattered throughout these pages and in our Flickr galleries.
FOWA Excellence in Craft Awards recipient: 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.
Sandra & John are members of the Society of American Travel Writers and the Florida Outdoor Writers Association. Sandra is also a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.
They are life members of the Florida Trail Association and the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association.
John is a life member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Adventure Cycling Association, the American Canoe Association,and the National Eagle Scout Association.
Good Nature. Good Reads. Watula Press is the publishing arm of Florida Hikes, producing books on travel, nature, and the outdoors.
Connect with fellow hikers to plan your journey on the Florida Trail. Chat with other Florida Trail Hikers to learn about trail conditions and logistics.
NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Apalachicola
. Apalachicola National Forest
. Apalachicola River
. Blackwater River State Forest
. Blountstown
. Crawfordville. Crestview
. DeFuniak Springs
. Destin
. Fort Walton Beach
. Ebro
. Freeport
. Gulf Islands National Seashore
. Madison
. Marianna
. Milton
. Navarre
. Niceville
. Panama City Beach
. Pensacola
. Ponce De Leon
. Port St. Joe
. Sopchoppy
. St. Marks
. St. Marks NWR
. Tallahassee
NORTH FLORIDA
Amelia Island
. Cedar Key
. Chiefland
. Fernandina Beach
. Flagler Beach
. Gainesville
.High Springs
. Jacksonville
. Lake City
. Live Oak
. Mayo
. Micanopy
. Osceola National Forest
. Palatka
. Perry
. Salt Springs
. St. Augustine
. Steinhatchee
. Suwannee River Wilderness Trail
. Trenton
. White Springs
CENTRAL FLORIDA
Apopka
. Belleview
. Brandon
. Brooksville
. Bushnell
. Canaveral National Seashore
. Christmas
. Clearwater Beach
. Clermont
. Cocoa Beach
. Cross Florida Greenway
. Crystal River
. Dade City
. Daytona Beach
. Deland
. Deltona
. Dunnellon
. Frostproof
. Geneva
. Inverness
. Kissimmee
. Lakeland
. Lake Wales
. Leesburg
. Melbourne
. Merritt Island NWR
. Mount Dora
. New Port Richey
. New Smyrna Beach
. Ocala
. Ocala National Forest
.Orlando
. Ormond Beach
. Oviedo
. Sanford
. Silver Springs
. St. Cloud
. St. Petersburg
. Tampa
. Tarpon Springs
. Titusville
. Walt Disney World
. Withlacoochee State Forest
. Withlacoochee State Trail
. Yeehaw Junction
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Bradenton
. Charlotte Harbor
. Ding Darling NWR
. Englewood
. Estero
. Fort Myers
. Naples
. Pine Island
. Punta Gorda
. Sanibel Island
. Sarasota
. Venice
SOUTH FLORIDA
Arcadia
. Big Cypress
. Big Cypress National Preserve
. Clewiston
. Everglades City
. Everglades National Park
. Fisheating Creek
. Lake Okeechobee
. Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail
. Lake Placid
. Moore Haven
. Okeechobee
. Sebring
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
Biscayne Bay
. Biscayne National Park
. Boca Raton
. Coral Gables
. Everglades National Park
. Florida Keys
. Fort Lauderdale
. Fort Pierce
. Hobe Sound
. Homestead
. Jupiter
. Key Biscayne
. Miami
. Ocean to Lake
. Palm Beach
. Port St. Lucie
. Sebastian
. Stuart
. Vero Beach
. West Palm Beach