• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Florida Hikes logo

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

  • Trails
  • Maps
  • Guidebooks
  • Search
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel
Edison Home Fort Myers

Fort Myers

Trails in Fort Myers can enter a mangrove tunnel, a pine forest, or traverse a boardwalk in the Big Cypress Swamp, offering an outstanding diversity of habitats

326 shares

Contents

  • 1 Resources
  • 2 Exploring Fort Myers
    • 2.1 Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
    • 2.2 Edison & Ford Winter Estates
  • 3 Featured Trails and Parks near Fort Myers
    • 3.1 Red Mangrove Overlook
    • 3.2 Wulfert Keys Trail
    • 3.3 CREW Cypress Dome Trails
    • 3.4 Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
    • 3.5 Babcock Ranch Footprints Trail
    • 3.6 Edison & Ford Winter Estates
    • 3.7 CREW Marsh Trails
    • 3.8 Calusa Shell Mound Trail
    • 3.9 Cross Dike Trail
  • 4 Articles
    • 4.1 Florida’s Utopia
    • 4.2 Kids love wildlife hikes!

Resources

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 Myers

First established as a military outpost during the Seminole Wars of the 1830s, Fort Myers grew thanks to its proximity to the Caloosahatchee River.

Cattle barons drove herds down the Kissimmee to Lake Okeechobee and on along the Caloosahatchee, loading steers onto Spanish galleons that paid top dollar in gold.

Today, visitors can hop a hydrofoil to Key West, a ferryboat that whisks you to the southernmost tip of Florida in three hours.

Water plays a large part in recreation in the region, both on it and in it, with the city fringing the massive Big Cypress Swamp ecosystem to the east.

Six Mile Cypress Slough is a must-see for a dip into Big Cypress. Thanks to these wetlands, Fort Myers has extensive natural lands preserving pockets of important habitats.

Cross Trail junction in Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

Winding 1.4 miles through the slough, the broad wheelchair-accessible boardwalk at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in Fort Myers leads you into a dark cypress strand

Most lie to the north of North Fort Myers, a buffer against the spread of suburbia north of Pine Island Rd. But others are tucked among subdivisions within the city and its surrounding communities.

After the Civil War, the city of Fort Myers became a winter destination for tourists hopping steamships down the Gulf Coast. In 1889, inventor Thomas Edison built a grand estate on the Caloosahatchee.

He used it to create a laboratory devoted to the study of tropical plants. As his industrialist and scientist friends visited, the town gained a cultural core and a great deal of botanical interest.

Edison oversaw the planting of hundreds of royal palms along McGregor Boulevard, the original cattle drive route.

The “Avenue of Palms” is still a delight today, a must-drive on a visit to the extensive gardens at his winter home and that of his friend Henry Ford.

Thomas Edison home

Edison & Ford Winter Estates

Tropical gardens from the 1920s grow lavishly around the historic winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers


Featured Trails and Parks near Fort Myers

Red Mangrove Overlook

Red Mangrove Overlook

Red Mangrove Overlook
Wulfert Keys Trail

Wulfert Keys Trail

Wulfert Keys Trail
Cypress dome

CREW Cypress Dome Trails

CREW Cypress Dome Trails
Cross Trail junction in Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridahikes/sets/72157625510239616

Babcock Ranch Footprints Trail

Babcock Ranch Footprints Trail
Thomas Edison home

Edison & Ford Winter Estates

Edison & Ford Winter Estates
Blaze post on prairie trail

CREW Marsh Trails

CREW Marsh Trails
Calusa Shell Mound

Calusa Shell Mound Trail

Calusa Shell Mound Trail
Ding Darling Cross Dike Trail

Cross Dike Trail

Cross Dike Trail
 
More Trails More Parks


Articles

The Planetary Court at Koreshan State Park

Florida’s Utopia

December 9, 2018//  by John Keatley

At the Koreshan Unity in Estero, Florida, a group of believers gathered in 1894 to build their paradise. It is now a National Historic Site and a Florida State Park. Walk the trails and streets of “New Jerusalem” to learn its story.

Kids love wildlife hikes!

February 24, 2012//  by Sandra Friend

Here’s a little proof positive that the younger generation still finds the outdoors a thrill. Late last year, I had an email from a reader planning a trip to Florida looking for a way to day-trip the Everglades while visiting family in Punta Gorda. Given the vast distance between the two spots, I suggested, as …


NEARBY: Charlotte Harbor, Estero, LaBelle, Naples, Pine Island, Pine Island Sound, Punta Gorda, Sanibel Island | PART OF: Big Cypress Swamp, Southwest Florida

Primary Sidebar

Our Florida Guidebooks

The Florida Trail Guide
Florida Trail Hikes 2nd edition cover
50 Hikes in Central Florida 3rd edition
Explorer's Guide North Florida & The Panhandle guidebook
Five Star Trails Gainesville & Ocala guidebook
Five Star Trails Orlando guidebook

Florida Trail Apps

Farout GuidesFarout Guides Comprehensive logistics and offline maps for the
Florida National Scenic Trail (1,500 miles), the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (108 miles), and the ECT Florida Connector (92 miles).

Our Florida Coffee Table Books

Discovering the Florida Trail coffee table book
The Florida Trail coffee table book

Footer

FIND A TRAIL OR PARK

NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Apalachicola. Apalachicola National Forest. Blackwater River State Forest. Blountstown. Bonifay. Bristol. Cape San Blas. Carrabelle. Chattahoochee. Chipley. Crawfordville. Crestview. DeFuniak Springs. Destin. Ebro. Eglin Air Force Base. Fort Walton Beach. Freeport. Gulf Islands National Seashore. Madison. Marianna. Milton. Monticello. Mossy Head. Navarre Beach . Niceville. Panama City Beach. Pensacola. Ponce De Leon. Port St. Joe. Quincy. Sopchoppy. South Walton. St. Marks. St. Marks NWR. Tallahassee. Vernon. Wakulla. Wewahitchka

NORTH FLORIDA
Alachua. Amelia Island. Baldwin. Branford. Bunnell. Cedar Key. Chiefland. Crescent City. Dowling Park. Ellaville. Fernandina Beach. Flagler Beach. Gainesville. Green Cove Springs. High Springs. Jacksonville. Keystone Heights. Lake Butler.Lake City. Live Oak. Mayo. Macclenny. Micanopy. Olustee. Orange Park. Osceola National Forest. Palatka. Palatka-Lake Butler Trail. Palm Coast. Perry. Salt Springs. St. Augustine. Starke. Steinhatchee. Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. Suwannee Springs. Talbot Islands. Timucuan Preserve. Trenton. Welaka. White Springs. Williston

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

MULTI-REGION
Big Cypress Swamp. East Coast Greenway. Everglades National Park. Florida National Scenic Trail

CENTRAL FLORIDA
Apopka. Belleview. Brandon. Brooksville. Bushnell. Canaveral National Seashore. Christmas. Chuluota. Clearwater Beach. Clermont. Coast to Coast Trail. Cocoa Beach. Cross Florida Greenway. Crystal River. Dade City. Daytona Beach. De Leon Springs. DeBary. Deland. Deltona. Dunedin. Dunnellon. Frostproof. Geneva. Inverness. Kenansville. Kissimmee. Lake Mary. Lake Wales. Lakeland. Largo. Leesburg. Longwood. Melbourne. Melbourne Beach. Merritt Island. Merritt Island NWR. Mims. Mount Dora. New Port Richey. New Smyrna Beach. Ocala. Ocala National Forest. Ocklawaha. Orlando. Ormond Beach. Osteen. Oviedo. Palm Bay. Ridge Manor. Sanford. Silver Springs. Spring Hill. St. Cloud. St. Petersburg. Tampa. Tarpon Springs. Titusville . Walt Disney World. Weeki Wachee. Winter Springs. Withlacoochee State Forest. Withlacoochee State Trail. Yeehaw Junction

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Bradenton . Charlotte Harbor. Ding Darling NWR. Englewood. Estero. Fort Myers. Immokalee. Naples. Pine Island. Port Charlotte. Punta Gorda. Sanibel Island. Sarasota. Venice

SOUTH FLORIDA
Arcadia. Basinger. Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress Seminole Reservation. Clewiston. Everglades City. Fisheating Creek. Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Lake Placid. LaBelle. Lakeport. Moore Haven. Okeechobee. Pahokee. Port Mayaca. Sebring. South Bay

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
Big Pine Key. Biscayne Bay. Biscayne National Park. Boca Raton. Boynton Beach. Coral Gables. Davie. Delray Beach. Northeast Everglades Natural Area. Florida Keys. Fort Lauderdale. Fort Pierce. Hobe Sound. Hollywood. Homestead. Islamorada. Jensen Beach. Jupiter. Juno Beach. Key Biscayne. Key Largo. Key West. Marathon. Miami. Ocean to Lake Greenway. Overseas Heritage Trail. Palm Beach. Port St. Lucie. Redland. Sebastian. Stuart. Vero Beach. West Palm Beach

  • Trails
  • Parks
  • Beaches
  • Gardens
  • Springs
  • Ecotours
  • Attractions
©2006-2023, Sandra Friend & John Keatley | Disclosure | Site Index | Work with Us | Advertise with Us
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy | Florida Hikes PO Box 93 Mims FL 32754| Contact