Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Parks and other public lands where you can launch your own canoe, kayak, or paddleboard. These locations may or may not have rentals available.
Launch Points
Along busy US 19 in Tarpon Springs, hugs the western shore of Lake Tarpon, offering plenty of picnic pavilions along a boardwalk following the cypress-lined shore.
Straddling the confluence of the North and South Prong of the Alafia River, Alderman’s Ford Conservation Park provides immersion into lush riverine forests.
Weaving though a lush floodplain forest in the Alafia River floodplain, a paved loop provides access to a network of natural pathways, boardwalks, and primitive campsites.
Surrounding one of Florida’s most picturesque first magnitude springs, Alexander Springs is a prime destination for a summer swim or snorkel
A place for spectacular sunsets, Anclote Gulf Park offers several observation decks along its coastal boardwalks overlooking Anclote Key and the Gulf of Mexico
Noted for its botanical beauty, the Apalachicola National Forest is the largest National Forest in Florida, sweeping south and west of Tallahassee
With its natural waterfront on Tampa Bay, Apollo Beach Nature Preserve is a perfect place for birders, not beachgoers, a place to launch a kayak and scan the skies for osprey.
Stretching from Melbourne Beach to Sebastian, this refuge protects sea turtle nesting grounds along the Atlantic Ocean
At the edge of Boynton Beach, where historic farmlands have given way to subdivisions, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a 145,000 acre buffer between suburbia and the Everglades
Long known for its natural beaches, Bahia Honda State Park continues to heal after the ravages of Hurricane Irma stripped much of its tropical vegetation
A go-to location for spotting manatees at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Bairs Cove off Haulover Canal is also a launch point for bioluminescence
In a hidden corner of Collier County, Barefoot Beach Preserve provides immersion in nature at a beauty spot along two miles of natural shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico just north of Wiggins Pass.
