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Fakahatchee ferns

The Florida Hikes! Blog

News, trail updates, and conservation issues, as well as our explorations of trails around Florida and the world.

Florida Hikes! blog

A quick trip through Leon Sinks Natural Area

May 16, 2008    Sandra Friend

I’m trying out a few new tricks using WordPress plugins and specialized code from my image host, SmugMug.com.  Let’s see how this works…  [HTML1]

A Tale of Two Ravines

February 10, 2007    Sandra Friend

Yesterday I needed some time to play in the woods, so off we went to Ravine Gardens State Park and Gold Head Branch State Park. To visit both in one day highlights how human intervention changes the natural landscape. Ravine Gardens was a WPA project in the 1930s to keep people employed, and became one …

Apalachicola Reserve

April 25, 2008    Sandra Friend

At the far north end of Market Street, that famed boulevard that slices right through the heart of Apalachicola’s historic business district, the road ends at the Apalachicola Reserve Nature Center and its adjoining nature trail. While the center is only open on weekends, the trail is available anytime (dawn to dusk), and I took …

Backpacking, children, and Central Florida

February 28, 2007    Sandra Friend

Earlier this week, I had an email from Chris, a Central Florida father who wants to take his son on his first backpacking trip. In part, his email said: My son and I are looking for our first hike and camp (one overnight trip). We live in Orlando, FL and I so far Lake Louisa …

Books for Hikers … for you!

June 19, 2007    Sandra Friend

My dear friend Linda “eArThworm” Patton has just set up shop at www.booksforhikers.com, where she is moving and expanding her long-time Backcountry Bibliography to include many more written resources for hikers. For those not in the know, Linda’s a retired librarian and just can’t help herself. Yup, she’s got shelves, bookcases, and stacks of these …

Climb a mountain this weekend

July 29, 2009    Sandra Friend

Hobe Mountain, that is … the highest point in Florida south of Lake Okeechobee, if you don’t count the mountainous landfills seen along Florida’s Turnpike. Okay, make that the highest natural landform in South Florida. And to top it off … a tower. Check out this short walk with a fabulous view at Jonathan Dickinson …

Cool down in the Blackwater River

Busy swimming hole at Blackwater River State Park

July 29, 2009    Sandra Friend

Enjoy a cool dip in the Blackwater River at Blackwater River State Park near Milton. The Florida Trail runs right through the park, crossing Deaton Bridge, but your best access to the least-busy broad sandy beach on a river bend is along the Chain of Lakes Trail, an interpretive trail that follows old oxbows left …

Down the Dora Canal

February 16, 2007    Sandra Friend

Yesterday I had the opportunity to cruise the Dora Canal with Blue Heron Cruises out of the Lakeside Inn in Mt. Dora. It’s been nearly 5 years since my last trip down the canal, and I’d forgotten just how much of a wonderland of ancient cypresses is hiding in there. It’s truly one of Florida’s …

Fort Lauderdale’s Woodland Secret

May 12, 2009    Sandra Friend

Within just a few miles of the Fort Lauderdale Airport, I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, there’s a Secret Woods right under Fort Lauderdale’s nose. That’s Secret Woods Nature Center, the first-ever designated urban wilderness in Florida, established in 1978.  With a little over a mile’s worth of trails …

Go landfill hiking in Palm Beach County

May 5, 2009    Sandra Friend

Years ago, I had a wonderful time hiking with a bunch of friends at Grassy Waters Preserve, a nature center with trails north and south of Northlake Blvd in northern Palm Beach County. At the time, the fellow who led the hike mentioned that plans were in the works for hiking trails to be built …

H.A. Laird Park, Freeport

May 27, 2008    Sandra Friend

Noted in passing, on our journey down SR 20: Freeport has a public park close to (and across from) the library, H.A. Laird Park, which sports a very inviting boardwalk nature trail into what appears to be a cypress swamp. We didn’t have time to visit this trip, but perhaps you will: see the city website for …

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

December 24, 2008    Sandra Friend

Enjoy the balmy weather and take a Florida hike! Merry Christmas to all.

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