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Port Everglades Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale

Discover the outdoors hidden in plain sight across the parks and natural lands of Greater Fort Lauderdale, stretching from the edge of the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean

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Resources

Florida Trail Hikes book cover The Florida Trail Guide book cover 50 Hikes in South Florida book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us continue to provide public information on this website.


Exploring Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale may not be somewhere you’ve thought of hiking, biking, or paddling, but you’ll be surprised what Broward County has to offer.

Most of the hiking trails are short nature walks, but some immerse you in habitats you won’t easily see anywhere else in such an urban setting, including pond apple swamps and sawgrass prairies.

Fort Lauderdale is home to two state parks and a robust number of county parks with hiking trails.

While the oceanfront is heavily populated, you can find quieter strands at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park and Mizell-Johnson State Park, as well as the at the Hillsborough Lighthouse Park.

Most of the surrounding communities – including Coral Springs, Dania, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, Miramar, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Pembroke Pines, Sunrise, Tamarac – have at least one or more parks and natural areas off of major roads.

Continue west on Interstate 75 to US 27, and you’ll find the Everglades stretching off to the horizon, with Sawgrass Recreational Park one of several gateways into it.


Trails and Parks around Fort Lauderdale

Best Fort Lauderdale Area Trails

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

In a tropical forest across the street from Fort Lauderdale Beach, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is the former estate of Chicago attorney Hugh Taylor Birch, stretching to the Intracoastal Waterway

Fern Forest ferns

Fern Forest Nature Center

A bounty of ferns awaits at Fern Forest Nature Center, where more than two miles of trails introduce you to a slice of Florida’s past, a tropical forest surrounding the original floodplain of Cypress Creek

West Lake Port Everglades

Anne Kolb Nature Center

Whether it’s from the top of a five-level observation tower or at ground level with the land crabs, Anne Kolb Nature Center focuses on the urban mangrove forest that it protects and interprets

Secret Woods tropical forest

Secret Woods Nature Center

Designated the first “urban wilderness area” in Florida in 1978, Secret Woods protects a 56-acre floodplain of cypress strand and mangroves with uplands of tropical hammock


Best Fort Lauderdale Natural Attractions

Bonnet House

Bonnet House

Named for the water lilies that once flourished in the freshwater marsh in front of this grand home, the 35 acres of tropical forest on which the Bonnet House was built was a gift from industrialist Hugh Taylor Birch to his daughter Helen and son-in-law Fredric Clay Bartlett, a noted artist.

Butterfly World

Butterfly World

While butterflies are the main attraction at this complex of natural wonders inside Tradewinds Park, a series of gardens also put on quite a show

Tropical giants at Flamingo Gardens

Flamingo Gardens

From its roots in a citrus grove, a nonprofit botanical garden sprouted through the efforts of Floyd and Lula Wray. In 1927, they purchased 320 acres to grow citrus and a year later, Floyd hired Frank Stirling to create a botanical garden for test planting of tropical fruit and flowering trees.


More Fort Lauderdale Parks and Trails

Exotic Trail

Exotic Trail

Exotic Trail
Satinleaf at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

Coastal Hammock Trail

Coastal Hammock Trail
Beach at Mizell-Johnson State Park

Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park

Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park
Mizell-Johnson Barrier Island Trail sign

Barrier Island Nature Trail

Barrier Island Nature Trail
Snake Warriors Island hammock

Snake Warriors Island Natural Area

Snake Warriors Island Natural Area
Tradewinds Park South

Tradewinds Park

Tradewinds Park
 
More Trails More Parks


Recent Articles

Oleta River State Park

Florida’s Best Urban Parks

October 27, 2016//  by Sandra Friend & John Keatley

When you live in a tightly packed space, you need somewhere green as your go-to place nearby. These are our top picks for parks in Florida’s urban areas, chosen for their diversity of outdoor activities and/or their unique green spaces.

Statue honoring the Barefoot Mailman

The Barefoot Mailman

February 18, 2016//  by John Keatley

Hiking barefoot in Florida isn’t new. Back in the 1880s, it was part of your job description if you delivered mail between Palm Beach and Miami. Learn more at the Hillsboro Lighthouse in Pompano Beach.



INCLUDES: Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Plantation, Sunrise, Wilton Manors | NEARBY: Big Cypress National Preserve, Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, Boca Raton, Clewiston, Davie, Hollywood, Miami | ALONG: Atlantic Coastal Ridge, Atlantic Ocean, Everglades, Intracoastal Waterway | PART OF: Southeast Florida

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