Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
With some of the state’s largest population centers and easiest access by air, Central Florida is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts in the know.
Explore a maple swamp and an oak hammock on a pair of family-friendly loops along boardwalks and footpaths that lead to a tower on Sawgrass Lake
Straddling the sandy uplands of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, Scottsmoor Flatwoods Sanctuary protects 1,500 acres of flatwoods, scrub, and wetlands in North Brevard while offering more than 12 miles of trails
An easy loop trail traverses scattered prairie ponds within a dry ecosystem suitable for one of the state’s most endangered birds, the Florida scrub-jay.
One of few places where the Indian River Lagoon mingles with the Atlantic Ocean, Sebastian Inlet is the central feature of Sebastian Inlet State Park, which protects the tips of both barrier islands
At the northern end of Seminole Ranch Conservation Area, roam 8.4 miles along the marshy eastern shore of Puzzle Lake, part of the St. Johns River system.
At the north end of Seminole Ranch Conservation Area, this 1.4-mile round-trip leads to an observation tower with an extensive panorama across Loughman Lake and Salt Lake.
The accessible Seminole Rest Trail provides interpretive information about a historic and archaeological site at Canaveral National Seashore along the shores of the Indian River Lagoon.
With nearly 50 miles of trails and roads for hiking, biking, and equestrian use, Seminole State Forest offers surprising panoramas and bubbling springs north of Orlando.
John bikes the next segment west on the Coast to Coast Connector, the Seminole Wekiva Trail. This well-established bike path connects Seminole County communities.
Accessed via a trailhead along SR 52, the 6,533-acre Serenova Tract of Starkey Wilderness Preserve is the “wild space” to the north of J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey. An effort is underway to try to put a road through the preserve, and locals are fighting against it. Here’s what’s going on and how you can help.
With 1.3 miles of meandering trails through pine flatwoods and along the floodplain of Shingle Creek, the Historic Steffee Homestead portion of Shingle Creek Park makes for an easy family ramble.
Meditative walking: that’s what’s expected at Sholom Park, a private sanctuary in Ocala that opens its gates daily for the public to enjoy meandering trails through its well-manicured 45 acres.
