Florida Hikes

Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

Everglades City airboat

Everglades City

A launch point for adventures into the Ten Thousand Islands and the Big Cypress Swamp, Everglades City began as a trading post and sportsmen’s getaway

Resources

Resources for exploring the area
Florida Trail Hikes book cover The Florida Trail Guide book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover 50 Hikes in South Florida book cover Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover The Hiking Trails of Floridas National Forests Parks Preserves book cover Paddlers Guide Florida
 
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Exploring Everglades City

Established as a trading post along the mangrove-lined coast south of Fort Myers, Everglades City came into its own with the creation of the Tamiami Trail.

It was here that Barron Collier housed the workers who dredged their way across the wilds of cypress strands and sawgrass prairies to create the first road east-west across the wettest part of the state.

It opened in 1928. The town was platted, the Everglades Rod & Gun Club opened, and a bank and City Hall established. Despite the ravages of hurricanes, many of these historic structures persist today.

This compact little town is almost at the end of the road, but Chokoluskee just south of it, the original fishing village, has that distinction.

Between the two communities is the Gulf Coast Visitor Center for Everglades National Park, home to tours into the Ten Thousand Islands.

Check in at Chokoluskee to find outfitters ready to send you out onto the Wilderness Waterway, a truly wild 99-mile paddle along the Everglades.

Trails and Parks near Everglades City

Golden hour view of wet prairie with wading birds Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk Discover fresh perspectives on the abundance of tropical habitats at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park on the newly reconfigured Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk.
Mowed corridor in pine-palm flatwoods Big Cypress North Loop Traverse a vast mosaic of pinelands, prairies, and cypress swamps on a spectacularly scenic loop along the Florida Trail developed and maintained by the Florida Trail Association.
Prairie in a forest of pines and palms Collier-Seminole Prairie Hammock Trail A parade of habitats awaits in a lesser-visited corner of Collier-Seminole State Park on this multiuse loop utilizing portions of the Old Marco Road built in the early 1900s.
Bench on a boardwalk in a salt marsh Collier-Seminole State Park Protecting the largest natural hammock of royal palms in the United States, Collier-Seminole State Park opened in 1947 south of Naples along the Tamiami Trail.
Nurse log in strand swamp with strap ferns Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park 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.
Prairie edged by pines Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge Explore the habitat of Florida's apex predator on a pair of short hiking trails in one small corner of the vast territory that the endangered Florida panther roams.
Wet pine savanna beyond an orange blazed pine Florida Trail, Big Cypress South 30.3 miles. Traversing a vast wilderness in the wet wilds of Big Cypress National Preserve, the southernmost segment of the Florida Trail is the toughest backpacking trip in Florida
Line of cypress trees in winter Kirby Storter Boardwalk An accessible walk through the habitats of the Big Cypress Swamp, Kirby Storter Boardwalk gets you up close to the wonders of nature in Big Cypress National Preserve.
Limestone trail in tropical forest Leslie M. Duncan Memorial Trail Try a tiny sample of the vast mosaic of habitats within the 26,000-acre Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge on this short accessible-with-assistance loop.
Red trail marker in deeply shaded tropical forest Panther Trail Tunnel through verdant tropical forests and wade across open prairies on the Panther Trail, a 1.3 mile natural surface circuit through Florida panther territory at Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.
Young cypresses in dense swamp Roberts Lake Trail 8.2 miles. Now the Roberts Lake Trail, the former Loop Road to Oasis section of the Florida Trail is now blazed blue. It is where sawgrass and cypress meet, where the Everglades and Big Cypress blend.
Walking through wet areas helps cool you down Tamiami Trail Triathlon 3.0 miles. Trying the hiking portion of the Tamiami Trail Triathlon in summer is a little crazy, but we wanted to check it out. The swamp is lovely, but the loop uses a rough OHV road
Ten Thousand Islands mangrove atoll Ten Thousand Islands Where the waters of Big Cypress and the Everglades meet the Gulf Coast, the Ten Thousand Islands are a maze of mangrove forest: the second largest mangrove forest in the world, bested only by Bangladesh
Marsh in shades of green in Everglades habitat Ten Thousand Islands Marsh Trail On the Marsh Trail, immerse yourself in the mangrove maze of the Ten Thousand Islands on a trail that takes you to places you'd normally only see from a boat.

Articles

Cover of the book Floating in Florida hovering over a wild riverscape Floating in Florida (11/6/2025) Drifting across placid waters, find your bliss with the perfect adventure on Florida's hidden waters, with Lucy Tobias your guide.
Enormous strap fern Stranding Steves at Fakahatchee (7/14/2015) Exploring Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park for a chapter of a new book we're writing, a pair of park rangers named Steve guide us to the park's beauty spots

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NEARBY: Immokalee, Marco Island, Naples | ALONG: Big Cypress Swamp, Everglades National Park | PART OF: South Florida