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Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

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Camping at JR Walton Pond Eglin

Backpacking in Florida

Spend a night or more in the wilds of Florida by planning a backpacking trip. Along with our state parks and state forests, the Florida National Scenic Trail offers plenty of overnight and multi-day trips.

Backpack on trail

Florida Is For Backpackers

Florida is fortunate to be home to one of America’s National Scenic Trails. Established in 1966, the Florida Trail has grown from just a few hundred linear miles to a network of more than 1,500 miles of marked trail. Orange blazes lead you through forests, across prairies, and even though Florida’s biggest swamp, the Big Cypress.

While the Florida Trail is our premiere backpacking destination, trail maintainers with the Florida Trail Association also built many loop trails in Florida State Parks and state forests, most of which remain popular backpacker destinations.

Florida’s prime backpacking season is December through March. That’s when temperatures are cooler, habitats are drier, and insects are less of a problem than any other time of year. But winter also means shorter days for getting your miles in. You can backpack here any time of year, but heat, humidity, and insects add serious challenges.

Planning Your Backpacking Trip

Learn about the specific differences of backpacking in Florida versus in other states and countries, particularly for the Florida Trail. If you haven’t backpacked in Florida before, read these. They bust a few myths and assumptions about Florida.

Palm Hammock Trail Merritt Island

Hiking in Florida

New to Florida? Florida is different. If you don’t know much about our outdoors, start here to learn what’s unique about hiking, backpacking, and camping in Florida.

Sandra and her gear at Southern Terminus

How To Prepare For A Backpacking Trip

What does a hiker need to spend a week, or a month, or three months on the trail? Here are trail-tested suggestions for backpacking in Florida for trips of a week or more

Backpack Big Cypress

Choosing Gear for a Florida Trail Hike

Our detailed recommendations and reviews of the best hiking and backpacking gear for your thru-hike or section hike of the Florida Trail based on our own successful use of certain tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, and more.

Resources for Backpackers

John and Sandra Big Cypress
Authors John Keatley and Sandra Friend, your hosts on FloridaHikes.com

We’ve been writing Florida hiking books since 2001, including seven guidebooks to backpacking our statewide Florida National Scenic Trail. We published our most recent edition in November 2021.

The Florida Trail Guide
Florida Trail Hikes 2nd edition cover
50 Hikes in Central Florida 3rd edition
Explorer's Guide North Florida & The Panhandle guidebook
Five Star Trails Orlando guidebook
Five Star Trails Gainesville & Ocala guidebook

We also partner with FarOut Guides to bring you our trail information in app form.

Florida's Best Backpacking Trips

These are backpacking destinations we consider some of the best in the state. Some are short and easy for families, some take three to seven days.

White blazed tree and trail into forest

Buster Island Loop

Buster Island Loop
Citrus Trail at Lizzie Hart Sink

Citrus Hiking Trail

Citrus Hiking Trail
Porter Lake, Apalachicola National Forest

Florida Trail, Apalachicola

Florida Trail, Apalachicola
Big Cypress Swamp

Florida Trail, Big Cypress South

Florida Trail, Big Cypress South

Florida Trail, Blackwater

Florida Trail, Blackwater
Florida Trail under dark water in floodplain

Florida Trail, Bull Creek WMA

Florida Trail, Bull Creek WMA
Trail climbing through pine forest

Florida Trail, Croom Hiking Trail

Florida Trail, Croom Hiking Trail
Marshall Swamp on the Cross Florida Greenway

Florida Trail, Cross Florida Greenway

Florida Trail, Cross Florida Greenway
Ladder up a bluff

Florida Trail, Eglin East

Florida Trail, Eglin East
Florida Trail Kissimmee

Florida Trail, Kissimmee

Florida Trail, Kissimmee
Florida Trail Nokuse longleaf pines

Florida Trail, Nokuse

Florida Trail, Nokuse
No Name Creek

Florida Trail, Suwannee

Florida Trail, Suwannee
Young longleaf pines at Hal Scott

Hal Scott Preserve

Hal Scott Preserve
View of the Little Manatee River from the trail

Little Manatee River Trail

Little Manatee River Trail
Sunrise at Bee Island

Myakka Hiking Trail

Myakka Hiking Trail
Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail

Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail

Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail
White blazed post in pine savanna

Prairie Lakes Loop

Prairie Lakes Loop
Palm hammock trail

William Bartram St. Johns River Loop

William Bartram St. Johns River Loop

ALL Backpacking Destinations

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FIND A TRAIL OR PARK

NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Apalachicola. Apalachicola National Forest. Blackwater River State Forest. Blountstown. Bonifay. Bristol. Cape San Blas. Carrabelle. Chattahoochee. Chipley. Crawfordville. Crestview. DeFuniak Springs. Destin. Ebro. Eglin Air Force Base. Fort Walton Beach. Freeport. Gulf Islands National Seashore. Madison. Marianna. Milton. Monticello. Mossy Head. Navarre Beach . Niceville. Panama City Beach. Pensacola. Ponce De Leon. Port St. Joe. Quincy. Sopchoppy. South Walton. St. Marks. St. Marks NWR. Tallahassee. Vernon. Wakulla. Wewahitchka

NORTH FLORIDA
Alachua. Amelia Island. Baldwin. Branford. Bunnell. Cedar Key. Chiefland. Crescent City. Dowling Park. Ellaville. Fernandina Beach. Flagler Beach. Gainesville. Green Cove Springs. High Springs. Jacksonville. Keystone Heights. Lake Butler.Lake City. Live Oak. Mayo. Macclenny. Micanopy. Olustee. Orange Park. Osceola National Forest. Palatka. Palatka-Lake Butler Trail. Palm Coast. Perry. Salt Springs. St. Augustine. Starke. Steinhatchee. Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. Suwannee Springs. Talbot Islands. Timucuan Preserve. Trenton. Welaka. White Springs. Williston

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MULTI-REGION
Big Cypress Swamp. East Coast Greenway. Everglades National Park. Florida National Scenic Trail

CENTRAL FLORIDA
Apopka. Belleview. Brandon. Brooksville. Bushnell. Canaveral National Seashore. Christmas. Chuluota. Clearwater Beach. Clermont. Coast to Coast Trail. Cocoa Beach. Cross Florida Greenway. Crystal River. Dade City. Daytona Beach. De Leon Springs. DeBary. Deland. Deltona. Dunedin. Dunnellon. Frostproof. Geneva. Inverness. Kenansville. Kissimmee. Lake Mary. Lake Wales. Lakeland. Largo. Leesburg. Longwood. Melbourne. Melbourne Beach. Merritt Island. Merritt Island NWR. Mims. Mount Dora. New Port Richey. New Smyrna Beach. Ocala. Ocala National Forest. Ocklawaha. Orlando. Ormond Beach. Osteen. Oviedo. Palm Bay. Ridge Manor. Sanford. Silver Springs. Spring Hill. St. Cloud. St. Petersburg. Tampa. Tarpon Springs. Titusville . Walt Disney World. Weeki Wachee. Winter Springs. Withlacoochee State Forest. Withlacoochee State Trail. Yeehaw Junction

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Bradenton . Charlotte Harbor. Ding Darling NWR. Englewood. Estero. Fort Myers. Immokalee. Naples. Pine Island. Port Charlotte. Punta Gorda. Sanibel Island. Sarasota. Venice

SOUTH FLORIDA
Arcadia. Basinger. Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress Seminole Reservation. Clewiston. Everglades City. Fisheating Creek. Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Lake Placid. LaBelle. Lakeport. Moore Haven. Okeechobee. Pahokee. Port Mayaca. Sebring. South Bay

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
Big Pine Key. Biscayne Bay. Biscayne National Park. Boca Raton. Boynton Beach. Coral Gables. Davie. Delray Beach. Northeast Everglades Natural Area. Florida Keys. Fort Lauderdale. Fort Pierce. Hobe Sound. Hollywood. Homestead. Islamorada. Jensen Beach. Jupiter. Juno Beach. Key Biscayne. Key Largo. Key West. Marathon. Miami. Ocean to Lake Greenway. Overseas Heritage Trail. Palm Beach. Port St. Lucie. Redland. Sebastian. Stuart. Vero Beach. West Palm Beach

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