Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
News, trail updates, and conservation issues, as well as our explorations of trails around Florida and the world.
Florida Hikes! blog
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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 …
Last week, my buddy Bob and I hit the Florida Trail to knock off another segment in the Ocala National Forest — this time, Hopkins Prairie. My first visit here was with Deb Blick, cartographer and data collector extraordinare of the Florida Trail Association, and it was a walk at a data collector’s pace. On …
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 …
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 …
Here’s what the Juniper Prairie Wilderness looked like prior to the fire. The loss of this beautiful area is heartbreaking. I was fortunate to visit in February on a hike on the Florida Trail with my friends Bob & Bonnie Coveney. We witnessed a lot of damage from the 2006 blaze, more than I expected. …
Out past Pensacola within earshot of the Gulf of Mexico, Big Lagoon State Park is notable for being a gateway to the Great Florida Birding Trail, with a large observation tower overlooking the vast sweep of the namesake lagoon. There are always wading birds and raptors here, either poking around the shallows or diving for …
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 …
A few years ago, I had the honor of walking a section of the Florida Trail at Clearwater Lake with the trail’s founder, Jim Kern, to celebrate the beginning of the Florida Trail at this spot in 1966. As we walked, Jim said “we blazed the trail on the other side of the lake.” We …
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 …
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 …
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 …
