Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Parks, trails, and gardens with the best botanical wonders in Florida
Protecting natural habitats at the north end of Crandon Park, Bear Cut Preserve offers a different perspective on the shoreline of Key Biscayne, with footpaths and bike paths for exploration.
Paralleling the former Homestead Canal, the Bear Lake Trail takes you on a journey through tropical hammock and mangrove forests along a road scooped from the canal diggings.
At Blackwater River State Forest, each of the recreation areas offers access to hiking, and popular Bear Lake is no exception. A 4-mile trail loops around this impounded reservoir, which flows into Sweetwater Creek.
With a 1.8-mile loop through the uplands of Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, the Bella Vista Trail offers a close look at the variety of habitats found on this barrier island
At Bethedsa-by-the-Sea, worship is not held just in hallowed halls but in the grace of the garden. Surrounding this historic Palm Beach church are colorful plantings of unusual tropical plants like the big leafed sea grape.
Traversing sandhill, pine flatwoods, and bayhead habitats, the Big Bay Trail offers a one mile loop with an optional 1.7-mile spur trail featuring two primitive campsites.
Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park provides a peek into a notable natural landmark, a stand of old-growth cypress.
At Blackwater River State Forest near Milton, immerse yourself in the largest state forest in Florida: 190,000 acres surrounding the Blackwater River and its tributaries.
For the easiest wildlife watching opportunity inside National Key Deer Refuge, head for the trail and observation deck at Blue Hole, a cenote-like pond that is the largest body of fresh water in the Florida Keys.
The 0.3-mile Bobcat Boardwalk at Shark Valley is a popular destination in winter and spring to see migratory and nesting birds.
The Bobcat Trail at Lake June-in-Winter State Park leads to a 3.3 mile trail system atop snow-white ancient dunes on the Lake Wales Ridge, where rare and unusual plants thrive
Art, architecture, and nature intersect among fifty acres of gardens first planted a century ago atop Iron Mountain at Lake Wales.
