Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Only 30 minutes from downtown Orlando, Apopka has interesting hikes in public lands along the Wekiva River basin and its tributaries, as well as the chain of lakes connecting to Lake Apopka
INTERACTIVE MAP
A walk in the park at Wekiwa Springs State Park doesn’t have to be a long one. Here’s a way to sample the park’s highlights and habitats along its trails.
Threading through a wilderness floodplain where the Little Wekiva and Wekiva Rivers meet, this 3.4 mile round-trip hike hidden in a subdivision offers excellent birding near Orlando.
For families in the know, Kelly Park is a favorite destination for tubing, the southernmost tubing run in Florida. But it also has some great hiking trails where you will probably see wildlife.
With both wetlands and open water that attract birds, Jones Avenue Stormwater Park filters runoff from the neighboring community while providing wildlife habitat
As I discovered later, bear sightings are common at Kelly Park. But this bear certainly surprised me at the end of my research hike for Five Star Trails Orlando.
Tubing down Rock Springs Run is why most folks show up at Kelly Park, but the Kelly Loop Trail is a nice dry way to see the waterway and wildlife.
Discover the wild heart of Central Florida on a ride along the Lake Apopka Loop Trail, an arc spanning two counties along the lake’s north shore
Across two counties and along the entire north rim of Florida’s fourth-largest lake, this 20,000 acre conservation area is a sweep of wildlife-rich marshes
A dedicated driving route through vast wetlands along the Lake Apopka North Shore, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is one of Florida’s best birding locations
At Lake Lotus Park in Altamonte Springs, the 1.7-mile trail system along Lake Lotus and the Little Wekiva River floodplain provides a great respite from surrounding suburbia.
A shaded loop trail winding through mesic hammocks borders a marsh that was once known as Lake Lucie.
On forested bluffs above Lake Apopka, Magnolia Park anchors the eastern terminus of the Lake Apopka Loop Trail near a campground under ancient live oaks
