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 […]
Clewiston
Clewiston, the center of the sugar cane industry in South Florida, is perched along the rim of one of America's largest lakes, Lake Okeechobee. Most nearby hikes are along the lake and levees.
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki
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
Our 2018 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
A massive ecosystem spanning more than a million acres, Big Cypress is a mosaic of sensitive tropical landscapes seen nowhere else in the United States.
Big Cypress National Preserve
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.
Big O: Everglades, Interrupted
Where the sunrise is best on Lake Okeechobee, the sun”s rays are directly in our faces. Southbound from Clewiston we stride on paved surface, rhythmic footfalls in tandem with hiking partners. It’s a windy, cloudy morning as the curtain rises over vast marshes with a ribbon of blue beyond, the sweep of open water defining […]
Billie Swamp Safari
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?
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.
Florida Trail, Clewiston to South Bay
One of the most accessible segments of the Big O – paralleling US 27 between Clewiston and South Bay – provides some of the best views of Lake Okeechobee from the dike.