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

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Big Cypress Swamp

More than a million acres encompass the watery wilderness that is Big Cypress, protected by a patchwork of public lands east of Naples

INTERACTIVE MAP

Estero

Koreshan State Park

Halfway between Fort Myers and Naples, Estero grew up around the Estero River, which flows into Estero Bay.

Everglades City

Everglades City airboat

A launch point for adventures into the Ten Thousand Islands and the Big Cypress Swamp, Everglades City began as a trading post and sportsmen’s getaway

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

Fakahatchee Strand State Park

Copeland      ( 25.950713,-81.360579 )      

It’s the Amazon of North America, home of the ghost orchid. Protecting more than 85,000 acres, Fakahatchee Strand is Florida’s largest state preserve and most certainly our wildest.

Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge

Florida Panther NWR

Copeland      ( 26.161522, -81.349219 )      1.1 miles

The longer of two loops at Florida Panther NWR guarantees a wet walk through panther habitat of wet pine flatwoods and cypress domes

Florida Trail, Big Cypress

Florida Trail Big Cypress

Florida National Scenic Trail  |  Big Cypress National Preserve
( 25.857105, -81.032913 )      38.3 miles

38.3 miles. Featuring the wettest, wildest wilderness traversed by backpackers in Florida, the Florida Trail in Big Cypress National Preserve is both beautiful and extraordinarily challenging.

Florida Trail, Big Cypress North

Nobles Grade, Big Cypress National Preserve

Florida Trail, Big Cypress  |  Big Cypress National Preserve
( 26.169781, -81.071770 )      8.0 miles

8.0 miles. An easy ramble from the I-75 rest area north along Nobles Grade, this wildlife-rich segment of the Florida Trail offers several loop options for day hikers and backpackers.

Florida Trail, Big Cypress South

Big Cypress Swamp

Florida Trail, Big Cypress  |  Big Cypress National Preserve
( 25.857105,-81.032913 )      30.3 miles

30.3 miles. Traversing a vast wilderness in the wet wilds of Big Cypress National Preserve, the southernmost segment of the Florida Trail is the toughest backpacking trip in Florida

Fort Myers

Edison Home 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

Hiking with two new friends

hookworm larvae

January 25, 2013    John Keatley

JK discovers that the weird rash on his legs since hiking south of Lake Okeechobee isn’t poison ivy at all, but something much more rare and creepy, a parasitic invasion.

Ice cream and patchwork

JK driving the support van at the Seminole Reservation

January 17, 2013    John Keatley

On my first day on support crew, the group decided to try a slackpack day. So we were up early, much too early.  The faster hikers wanted to get out on the trail by 5 AM.  Slack packing would mean that we didn’t have to break camp at Big Cypress Campground, and the hikers wanted …

In the Dark

Hiker feed

January 11, 2013    John Keatley

After our wonderful reception at the I-75 rest area, several hikers decided to backtrack a bit and camp.  I decided to push on and try for a few more miles.  I was rested and filled with good food. It wasn’t long after I made it through the north I-75 gate to Nobles Road that the …

Kicking off Hiker Season with Primrose

January 29, 2014    John Keatley

On January 5th, we loaded up Primrose and headed south, traveling parallel to the Florida Trail for much of the trip, starting out at Christmas. Driving south of Tosahatchee, we continued through the Deseret Ranch where we spotted our first two Florida Trail thru-hikers walking up the highway. Although they are not keeping online journals, …

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

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