Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Places to paddle in Florida, including rivers and streams, spring runs, freshwater lakes, coastal lakes and lagoons, and coastal paddling trails
With tall waving grasses, saw palmetto, and the sound of birds, Myakka River State Park is Florida’s Big Sky country, blanketing more than 28,000 acres east of Sarasota
Along the southwestern Gulf Coast of Florida, Myakka State Forest offers an extensive trail network along the Myakka River basin, with tent camping under the stars.
Winding across open prairies of palmettos, the North Loop Trail at Myakka State Forest offers views of pine flatwoods and glimpses of the Myakka River.
Neatly accessed via “The Loop,” a scenic drive that extends north from Ormond Beach, North Peninsula State Park has two tantalizing miles of oceanfront along a palm-rimmed line of dunes.
Once a pioneer community along the Old Bellamy Road connecting St. Augustine and Tallahassee in 1826, O’Leno State Park protects one of North Florida’s weirder geologic wonders, a disappearing river.
At Ochlockonee River State Park waters meet, the tidal bore of the estuary pushing upstream to meet two rivers draining the vast swamps of the Apalachicola National Forest.
Where the Kissimmee River pours its waters into Lake Okeechobee, Okee-Tantie Recreation Area offers access to the river and a wild marshy stretch of lakeshore
Camping cabins and mountain biking in Miami? Oleta River State Park is a surprising gem amid the bustle of this dense urban area, providing both beach access and paddlers a place to explore the mangrove islands of the Oleta River and Biscayne Bay.
West of Trenton along the Suwannee River, Otter Springs is a second magnitude spring surrounded by clusters of ancient oaks and towering cypress. It is a Gilchrist County Park.
Along the northern shore of a mangrove-lined creek, Oyster Creek Environmental Park offers gentle hiking trails with interpretive stops beneath old-growth slash pines
One of Florida’s most unusual and beautiful places to paddle, the Dead Lakes include 6,700 acres of mazy cypress and tupelo swamps in the Chipola River floodplain.
With a dozen launch points and more than 15 springs along its 16 mile length, Holmes Creek, a tributary of the Choctawhatchee River, is a must-do paddling trip along a remote waterway.
