Florida Hikes
Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
With the Suwannee River to the north and Osceola National Forest to the east, Lake City is a hub for hiking, paddling, and off-road biking in the Suwannee basin.
An easy linear hike or round trip with a stop at the Florida Trail’s oldest shelter, this short segment of the Florida Trail in Osceola National Forest is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail.
4.7 miles. Roly-poly and rugged, the Florida Trail across Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park showcases the beauty of the Suwannee River from its bluffs.
For 78 miles along the Suwannee River, the Florida Trail clings to bluffs and scrambles through ravines for physical challenges and great scenery.
In the northwest corner of Osceola National Forest, this 11.4 mile segment of the Florida Trail offers strong contrasts between pine flatwoods and bogs.
3.6 miles. Spanning from one end of White Springs to the other along a bend in the Suwannee River, this Florida Trail segment is an easy day hike through a historic community.
Weaving across rolling hills in the Suwannee River floodplain, this well-maintained path explores the forested woodlands of Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park.
On the 2009 I-Did-A-Hike, 40 participants enjoyed special access to a portion of the Florida Trail that is not formalized yet, but when it is, will lead hikers right past the famed Big Shoals.
A swimming hole as a work of natural art, the deep gash in the earth that is Ichetucknee Spring glows an unearthly robin's-egg blue, cradled in a limestone bowl within a leafy glen.
The short, easily accessed Mount Carrie Wayside in Osceola National Forest showcases an old growth longleaf pine forest with a population of red-cockaded woodpeckers.
Effective July 26, 2019, fees go up at many National Forest campgrounds, boat ramps, and recreation areas
Starting where the waters of the Santa Fe River dive underground at O'Leno State Park, this scenic hike roughly follows the river's subterranean flow to its emergence at River Rise Preserve.
At the site of an 1826 pioneer community along the Old Bellamy Road connecting St. Augustine and Tallahassee, O'Leno State Park protects one of North Florida’s weirder geologic wonders, a disappearing river.
