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

Clewiston

A night in Clewiston

January 19, 2013    John Keatley

When you reach the turnoff to continue north on the Florida Trail around Lake Okeechobee, you don’t quite reach the town of Clewiston. After all the heat and bugs while camping and cooking outdoors, the group decided to enjoy real food and a night in an air-conditioned, bug-free motel room. The owner gave us a …

A Year with Primrose

January 6, 2014    John Keatley

It’s been a year since we purchased Primrose, our 1982 VW Vanagon. Here’s a recap of where we’ve been and what we’ve seen.

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki

Big Cypress Seminole Reservation      ( 26.325975,-80.999618 )      

Set in a 60-acre cypress dome on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki museum of Seminole culture provides an introduction to the tropical outdoors of natural South Florida’s swamps in which the Seminole Tribe has lived for more than a century.

Around Okeechobee

January 8, 2020    Sandra Friend & John Keatley

Our 2020 update of the state of the Florida Trail around Lake Okeechobee. Thru-hikers should continue to use Okeechobee West as their route around the lake. We provide full details on why.

Big Cypress National Preserve

Big Cypress      ( 25.857244, -81.034255 )      

Protecting the heart of the Big Cypress Swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve was established in 1974. Exploring its lush subtropical landscapes means wading through crystal-clear swamps or paddling its channelized rivers.

Big O Hike

Nine days, 109 miles: that’s the circuit around Lake Okeechobee to complete a walk around the second largest lake inside American borders on the Big O Hike.

Billie Swamp Safari

Big Cypress      ( 26.322398,-81.052849 )      

With airboat and swamp buggy rides as well as interpretation of native species, Billie Swamp Safari is an attraction providing immersion into the Big Cypress Swamp, ancestral home of the Seminole Tribe since the 1800s..

East or West around Lake Okeechobee?

January 8, 2020    Sandra Friend & John Keatley

Making the decision to walk the Florida Trail east or west around Lake Okeechobee used to be easy. Now, with construction zones blocking access to much of the southern half of the lake, it isn’t. Here are the facts on each route’s strengths and weaknesses to help you decide the best route for you.

Everglades, Interrupted

November 26, 2011    Sandra Friend

When you’re traveling at the speed of feet, it’s easy to spend hours reflecting on the Everglades that once was, the vast wilds erased by the agro-industrial complex that brought sugar cane to Lake Okeechobee.