Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Explore the best places to tent camp in Florida without being far from your car
Cut in two by Interstate 95 south of Melbourne, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park spans 35 square miles across two counties, protecting a mosaic of habitats for wildlife, particularly the Florida scrub-jay.
No Florida State Park is as celebrated as Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. For more than a half-century, it’s been home to the Florida Folk Festival, a Memorial Day Weekend treat with over a dozen bands playing on stages simultaneously throughout the expansive green space.
Perched on the bluffs at the confluence of the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers, Suwannee River State Park is one of those don’t-miss Florida outdoors experiences, with two ghost towns, Civil War battlements that once protected a strategic railroad bridge, and the ruins of a former governor’s riverfront mansion.
Hugging the state line with Georgia at Lake Seminole – the reservoir created by the dam where the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers form the Apalachicola – Three Rivers State Park is a prime getaway for anglers.
Walk in the footsteps of the Timucua beneath the ancient oaks at Tomoka State Park. The peninsula was the site of the village of Nocoroco, a thriving community on the shores of the bountiful river.
With one of Florida’s most beautiful sweeps of beach, Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is a linear preserve with tall dunes along three miles of shoreline
Perched on a high bluff above the Apalachicola River, Torreya State Park is one of Florida’s original state parks developed by the Civilian Conservations Corps in the 1930s. It’s a destination that fulfills many interests, with botanical wonders, geologic anomolies, and historic sites including earthworks from the Civil War and the Gregory House, a plantation home from 1849.
Vast pine savannas and pitcher plant bogs await at one of the toughest loop trails in the Orlando area a 7.5-mile challenge at Triple N Ranch WMA.
Pouring out 28 million gallons of water a day, the crystalline depths of Vortex Spring in Ponce De Leon have intrigued divers for more than forty years. But it’s not just about diving: the privately-owned spring is a summer destination for family fun in the water.
A massive wilderness area on the edge of the Orlando metro, Wekiwa Springs State Park is centered on a first-magnitude spring that bubbles through fissures to pour forth a river lined with jungle-like vegetation.
With two different trails – gentle and wild – showing off the park’s natural features, Withlacoochee River Park is a popular overnight camping destination.
With more than 155,000 acres spread over several counties, Withlacoochee State Forest is Florida’s second largest state forest, and arguably the most popular for outdoor recreation
