Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Everglades City 59.5 milesIt’s the Amazon of North America, home of the ghost orchid. Protecting more than 85,000 acres, Fakahatchee Strand is Florida's largest state preserve and most certainly our wildest.


It’s the Amazon of North America, home of the ghost orchid. Protecting more than 85,000 acres, Fakahatchee Strand is Florida's largest state preserve and most certainly our wildest.

A gentle walk along a boardwalk in a bluff forest surprises with its ending: a spectacular Florida waterfall in a deeply wooded setting.

The shortest of the treks at Falling Waters State Park shows off Florida's tallest waterfall and a line of sinkholes from both a new accessible vista and a plunge into the pit.

Iconic as the home of Florida's tallest waterfall, Falling Waters State Park is a showcase for Florida geology, where waters splash into a deep abyss near Chipley.

One of the Suwannee River's largest swimming holes is the clear, cool reflecting pool of Fanning Springs, located along the edge of its namesake town.

Starting at the westbound Sanderson rest area along Interstate 10, the Fanny Bay Trail leads you through pine flatwoods into a cypress swamp with ancient cypresses.

Nestled in oak hammocks along Pellicer Creek, the Pine Loop Trail at Faver-Dykes State Park lets landlubbers trace the route of the creek through old-growth pines.

At Faver-Dykes State Park, explore the estuaries of the Matanzas River and the uplands above Pellicer Creek.

Looping six miles through Florida’s oldest state forest, the Faye and Dutch Trail can be tackled as a day hike or a short backpacking trip.

The eastern terminus of the Withlacoochee Bay Trail is home to a surprisingly hilly trail above a freshwater marsh along the saltwater Cross Florida Barge Canal.

Immediately west of Interstate 95 at the Sebastian/Fellsmere exit, Fellsmere Trailhead Preserve provides a nature break for travelers and a trailhead for recreation

Conserving a collection of natural habitats amid farmland and subdivisions north of the Manatee River, Felts Audubon Preserve isn't just for the birds. It's for hikers, too.
