Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
All of our articles and destinations on FloridaHikes.com, from newest to oldest. Sit and read a while.
I read this disconcerting commentary by Orlando Sentinel Lake edition columnist Lauren Ritchie after my husband brought it to my attention. In a nutshell, drug addicts (and other reprehensible individuals) are looting natural lands in Lake County for archeological artifacts to sell on Ebay, destroying stream banks and digging holes in natural habitats. This brings …
Cypress knees can grow much taller than you think. I was able to measure this particular one at Peacock Springs State Park by standing nose to nose with it.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen this message in every newspaper and outdoor-related magazine across Florida: outdoor recreation on National Lands just became affordable! In January, the Federal Government started selling a new National Public Lands Pass. It’s designed to replace the mess of passes that one person had to get to visit all the federal …
Birding at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge and nearby Orchid Island Beach caps off a week of bird sightings.
On Tuesday evening after work, I took a trek up to Keystone Heights to meet up with my buddy Mike DeWitt, whose sole purpose in life these days is to hike the Florida Trail, absorb the essence of Florida, and blend it all into a blog and features for the Tampa Tribune. I’m envious of …
Earlier this week, I had an email from Chris, a Central Florida father who wants to take his son on his first backpacking trip. In part, his email said: My son and I are looking for our first hike and camp (one overnight trip). We live in Orlando, FL and I so far Lake Louisa …
Yesterday I had the opportunity to cruise the Dora Canal with Blue Heron Cruises out of the Lakeside Inn in Mt. Dora. It’s been nearly 5 years since my last trip down the canal, and I’d forgotten just how much of a wonderland of ancient cypresses is hiding in there. It’s truly one of Florida’s …
Yesterday I needed some time to play in the woods, so off we went to Ravine Gardens State Park and Gold Head Branch State Park. To visit both in one day highlights how human intervention changes the natural landscape. Ravine Gardens was a WPA project in the 1930s to keep people employed, and became one …
Spent last Sunday hiking a kick-butt section of the Torreya Hiking Trail about 1/3 of the way around the loop, going counterclockwise from the blue trail out past the Confederate gun emplacements near the Gregory House. A living history group had just decamped the night before. Joining me was Judd from our FTA Tallahassee office, …
Just back from a trip to Destin for a Visit Florida board meeting, between which I availed myself of a couple of quick hikes at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and Eden State Gardens.
Sea grapes on the Beach Hammock Trail: Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. This was once an unbroken canopy. I’m exploring natural areas in Broward County for my new “Exploring Florida’s Botanical Wonders” and am saddened to see the extent of Hurricane Wilma’s destruction on the natural habitats in this area. Certainly, we saw what happened …
My first exploration on the hiking trails of Marathon lead to thatch palm hammocks: the Curry Hammock Nature Trail at Curry Hammock State Park, and the trails of Crane Point Hammock, including the beautiful Palm Hammock Trail.
