Florida Hikes
Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Outdoor recreation in conservation areas managed for wildlife habitat
Following old forest roads, the purple-blazed loop of the Footprints Trail through the heart of Babcock Ranch, a vast prairie punctuated by cypress strands, provides a simple introduction to this often-squishy ecosystem.
Beautifully restored sandhills are on display along a simple set of trails near the outskirts of western Jacksonville at Branan Field WEA.
A hidden preserve in the Tampa metro offers a network of unmarked trails for a 5 mile hike traversing a shady creek and open flatwoods with patches of scrubby habitat.
The Big Pine Tract of Chinsegut WEA protects the southernmost old-growth longleaf pine forest in America, the second largest such tract in Florida.
Discover the beauty of May's Prairie at the heart of the Chinsegut WEA Conservation Center Tract, a vast wetland where sandhill cranes gather.
Near the western slope of the Lake Wales Ridge, wildflowers proliferate across sandhill restoration and clusters of rare cutthroat grass grow trailside on a 5 mile hike.
Walk along a blackwater stream that sluggishly seeps towards the Caloosahatchee River on the way to a panorama of pines and palmettos along Hickey Creek.
The remarkably unique Florida scrub habitat is on display at the Jack Creek Tract of Lake Wales Ridge WEA, home to rare endemic species.
Home to Florida scrub-jays, this 3.5 mile loop in the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife & Environmental Area provides views of the lake and a walk through ancient scrub.
With a surprising diversity of oak species for Central Florida, Perry Oldenburg WEA protects a prime piece of sandhill habitat where gopher tortoises thrive.
At Platt Branch, Florida scrub-jays perch along trails through scrub, sandhills, and the southernmost longleaf pine forests where observation platforms overlook grassy prairie ponds.
A live oak tree more than 200 years old is the centerpiece of Split Oak Forest, a 2,000-acre prairie and scrub preserve near Orlando, home to families of sandhill cranes
