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

Land trusts are nonprofit entities that acquire and manage land for conservation purposes. Sometimes these are landscape-level projects, attempting to preserve or re-establish corridors for wildlife and biodiversity.

Sometimes they exist to conserve what little is left of natural lands in an urban area. Some work cooperatively with water management districts and other state or federal agencies.

Others retain title to the land and act as stewards, managing for habitat restoration and opening up passive recreational use, typically footpaths or paddling routes.

Lands listed in this section of the website are owned and/or managed by nonprofit land trusts and permit public access for outdoor recreation.

Resources

Resources for exploring Florida
Florida Trail Hikes book cover The Florida Trail Guide book cover North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover Central Florida Orlando Explorers Guide book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover 50 Hikes in Central Florida Five Star Trails Gainesville Ocala book cover 5 Star Trails Orlando 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 provide public information on this website.

Outdoor Recreation on Land Trusts

These are outdoor recreation destinations in Florida that are cared for and managed by land trusts.

Boardwalk with interpretive sign Arcadia Mill At the site of Florida’s first "modern" industrial complex, Arcadia Mill features an accessible boardwalk offering a glimpse of the past and the gradual return of natural landscapes.
Red Trail Betz Tiger Point Betz-Tiger Point Preserve On a peninsula where the Timucua used the surrounding estuary for sustenance, Betz-Tiger Point Preserve provides more than six miles of breezy trails
Boardwalk looping along lakeshore as seen from above Bonnet Springs Park Offering a bounty of outdoor and nature activities along with museums and public spaces, Bonnet Springs Park is an urban gem in the city of Lakeland, a top destination statewide for family nature fun.
Path lined with cypress knees in cypress strand Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium Heaven and earth meet at the Calusa Nature Center, where a planetarium show complements the center's main mission of introducing the region's natural history, in part through its hiking trails.
boardwalk to big cypresses in Corkscrew Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Weaving beneath a canopy knit by old-growth cypress trees in a majestic swamp forest, the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one of Florida's best hikes
Levee in Big Cypress Swamp CREW Bird Rookery Swamp Rich with wildlife, CREW Bird Rookery Swamp near Naples provides up to 12 miles of hiking/biking in Big Cypress habitats on tramways through a primordial swamp
Red blaze post amid pines CREW Flint Pen Strand Just four miles east of Interstate 75, get your feet wet in one corner of the vast the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed on the trails of Flint Pen Strand.
Blaze post on prairie trail CREW Marsh Trails At CREW Marsh, a network of well-marked paths crisscrosses the northwestern tip of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, providing loops of up to 3.1 miles along a vast marsh.
Cove with a boat floating in it between rocky walls and palm trees Felburn Park 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.
Cypress Creek boardwalk Florida Trail, Choctawhatchee River 8.7 miles. Crossing majestic longleaf pine forests in Nokuse Plantation, the Florida Trail along the Choctawhatchee River also showcases natural features in the river basin between Cypress Creek and Seven Runs.
Boggy Head Creek Florida Trail, Forgotten Creek 9.7 miles. Contrasting steephead ravines and sluggish creeks in gum swamps with restoration areas on former sod farms and pine plantations, the Forgotten Creek portion of the Florida Trail in Nokuse surprises with its challenges.
Lafayette Creek Florida Trail, Lafayette Creek 9.3 miles. From a tricky traverse of the floodplain of Lafayette Creek to a roller-coaster of steep dips through wooded ravines, this scenic and surprisingly hilly section of the Florida Trail will give you a serious workout.
Florida Trail Nokuse longleaf pines Florida Trail, Nokuse 27.7 miles. Spanning from the Choctawhatchee River west to the boundary of Eglin Air Force Base, Nokuse is a compelling backpacker's destination in the Florida Panhandle.
View from a river bluff with river below and ridges beyond Garden of Eden Trail Try one of Florida's toughest day hikes on for size: local legend has it this was the Garden of Eden, and from the lush forests and rare flora along this trek, they might be on to something.
Tall skinny palms in estuary Gary Maidhof Walk to Nature An accessible coastal boardwalk off Fort Island Trail leads to a showy overlook on the Crystal River estuary.
Historic Spanish Point At Spanish Point, scents hang heavy in the morning air: a moonflower in the act of closing for the day, the sweetness of citrus blossoms, the purple morning-glory clambering over mangroves, the brush of salt breezes.
Holloway Park Main Trail Holloway Park With day hiking and cross country trails, Holloway Park & Nature Preserve is a slice of nature inside the city limits of Lakeland, just off the Polk Parkway.
Lagoon Greenway coastal plain Lagoon Greenway A scenic trek in Vero Beach to an observation deck on the Indian River Lagoon provides the option of longer immersion in the coastal mangrove forest
Prairie Creek at Prairie Creek Preserve Prairie Creek Preserve In the deep shade of the floodplain of Prairie Creek near Gainesville, Prairie Creek Preserve is a beauty spot provided to the public by the Alachua Conservation Trust
Blue sky and blue water on the Santa Fe River Santa Fe River Preserve A relaxed hike in a wooded preserve, the Blue Trail at Santa Fe River Preserve crosses sandhills and shady oak hammocks to reach the bluffs of its namesake river.
Tannic stream sluicing through riverine forest Santa Fe River Preserve Gracy Trail Peaceful pathways wind alongside a tranquil creek through shady woodlands, offering a quiet hike among the timid wildlife that call the Santa Fe River Basin home.
St. Jude Trail St. Jude Trail A ramble to the mangrove-lined shores of St. Jude Harbor, the St. Jude Trail is a birder's delight, tucked away in a residential neighborhood on the edge of St. James City on Pine Island and protected by the Calusa Land Trust.
Tiger Creek Preserve scrub ridge Tiger Creek Preserve Edward Bok's "Jungle," a deeply folded landscape between Tiger Creek and Patrick Creek south of Lake Wales, is protected by The Nature Conservancy as Tiger Creek Preserve.
Tuscawilla Preserve live oak canopy Tuscawilla Preserve Peek through thick curtains of Spanish moss beneath grandfather live oaks along the shores of an ancient lake

Land Trusts in Florida

These land trusts in Florida offer public outdoor recreation on some or all of their stewardship lands. Links lead to information about each of these nonprofit organizations.

ALL Outdoor Recreation on Land Trusts