Downhill Fast
Physically and mentally, I'm done


Florida settled into my soul like a fine mist during my childhood, thanks to my father's dreams. In the late 1950s, he came to stay with family in West Palm Beach to recuperate from major life changes he'd experienced, from the loss of his father to his …

On Manasota Key at Blind Pass, south of Venice, the Fred Duisberg Nature Trail is a gentle meander on boardwalks through a mangrove forest along Lemon Bay to a scenic overlook.


Expect some elevation change along the Atlantic Coast on this traverse of coastal habitats that includes the tall oceanfront dunes and the beach itself.

Explore nearly 22,000 acres of public land near Lake Okeechobee on extensive networks of trails for hikers, cyclists, and equestrians.

E.G. Simmons Park in Ruskin offers a campground along with its beaches and mazy mangrove-lined waterways for paddlers and anglers along Tampa Bay.

An unexpected eye-to-eye encounter with a bald eagle from the top of the Cape San Blas Lighthouse in 2011, before it closed due to hurricane damage.

The Land Bridge section of the Florida Trail has a special place in my heart since I helped create it under the tutelage of Kenneth Smith, 'Mr. Greenway,' who retired last year from being a section leader.

A designated urban wilderness area just north of Fort Lauderdale, Easterlin Park immerses you in a dense tropical forest on its 0.9-mile loop trail.


A little-known trail in a remote corner of Little Big Econ State Forest, the River Trail offers outstanding views from the river bluffs and an archway of ancient oaks to get there.
