Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Florida may not have a lot of elevation gain, but these hikes will have you scrambling up and down hills, which can be a lot of fun.
.Hilly hikes
At Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, the Ancient Dunes Trail leads you on a short scramble up and over relict dunes deeply shaded by ancient live oaks
Above the Apalachicola River, the community of Chattahoochee hides a natural treasure in its deep ravines—a park named for its native son, botanist Angus Gholson.
Atop one of the highest hills in the Florida Peninsula, Bok Tower Gardens is one of Florida’s most spectacular landscaped gardens, “something to appeal to both man and animal, a meditative place,” as envisioned by Edward William Bok in the 1920s.
On the ridges at Catfish Creek Preserve State Park, some steep as a ski slope, these elevated slivers of blinding white sand are some of Florida’s most ancient hills.
One of Florida’s longest backpacking loops – and the longest within a single piece of public land – the Citrus Hiking Trail offers up to 43 miles of rugged and interesting terrain near Inverness
On the Disappearing Creek Loop off the Florida Trail along the Suwannee River, watch Camp Branch burble through rapids and cascade into a giant sinkhole
On the Econfina Nature Trail, discover rugged climbs, steep drop-offs, bubbling springs, and deep crevices into the earth as you walk between two major springs where you can swim.
On Lake Apopka’s western shore, Ferndale Preserve offers some of the finest panoramas of the largest lake in Central Florida – and serious elevation changes.
With Florida’s only Class III whitewater and the beauty of a Florida waterfall along a stretch of trail that is rugged but extremely scenic, this 2.8 mile section of the Florida Trail is a real winner
7.4 miles. Rugged climbs through abandoned river channels and along the highest elevations along the Suwannee River make this hike a serious roller-coaster through river bluff forests and sandy beaches.
14.1 miles. Climbing to the highest elevations along the Florida Trail, the challenging Catface section traverses hilly terrain along the northern edge of Eglin Air Force Base.
This roly-poly section of the Florida Trail is pretty rugged despite its short distance, since it involves a lot of scrambling in and out of ravines and eroded bluffs created when the Suwannee River seasonally overflows its banks.
