Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
For more than two centuries, Florida’s natural attractions have wowed visitors who love nature.
Established in 1938 as one of the world’s largest collections of tropical plants, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an integral part of the history of Florida botany and of Coral Gables.
From its roots in a citrus grove, a nonprofit botanical garden sprouted through the efforts of Floyd and Lula Wray. In 1927, they purchased 320 acres to grow citrus and a year later, Floyd hired Frank Stirling to create a botanical garden for test planting of tropical fruit and flowering trees.
A dip into Florida’s only show cave at Florida Caverns State Park brings on an instant sense of cool. Opened in Marianna in the 1930s by the hardworking Civilian Conservation Corps, the tour route wraps through more than a dozen rooms with their own distinct and colorful landscapes.
Florida has an estimated 132 labyrinths waiting to be walked – from a neighborhood park in Pensacola in the Panhandle to one at a church in the Florida Keys.
Started in 1957 as a roadside attraction to show tourists one of the two Florida experiences they wanted – alligators! – Gatorama still has that funky Old Florida feel.
Gatorland is not just a historic Florida attraction but an immersion into what this part of Central Florida used to be, a cypress swamp full of critters.
At the grand opening of Gatorland’s new Stompin’ Gator Off-Road Adventure, we learned the story of Gator Joe and reconnected with the nature we so love at this long-time Florida nature park.
Looking for manatees? You’ll see them up close at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, where families can get up close to Florida wildlife in a natural setting.
With boardwalks and natural footpaths winding amid curated collections against a backdrop of natural Florida Keys habitats, the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden is a delightful natural destination.
Most notable for its collection of more than 6,000 orchids, Marie Selby Gardens are a must-see for those who love tropical plants, especially epiphtyes. The many specialized gardens range from a children’s garden play area to succulents and cycads to a banyan grove, mangrove walkway, and tropical fruit and medicinal gardens.
Established as McKee Jungle Gardens by local legend Waldo E. Sexton in 1929 with the guidance of landscape architect William Lyman Phillips, this carefully designed tropical garden is a Florida gem
At Naples Botanical Garden, buildings, landscaping, and nature live in harmony, with a delicate balance of natural spaces and lush gardens accented with art achieved.
