Your guide to Florida's outdoors, by Sandra Friend, Florida's hiking expert, and her co-author John Keatley, covering the Florida Trail and other trails throughout Florida.
The Bobcat Trail at Lake June-in-Winter State Park leads to a 3.3 mile trail system atop snow-white ancient dunes on the Lake Wales Ridge, where rare and unusual plants thrive
Did you know the creator of the Dewey Decimal System also created Lake Placid, Florida? Here’s the story.
For an immersion into the soul of ancient Florida, plan a paddle down Fisheating Creek. This wild and scenic waterway wends its way south through a puzzle of dense cypresses towards Lake Okeechobee
Started in 1957 as a roadside attraction to show tourists one of the two Florida experiences they wanted – alligators! – Gatorama still has that funky Old Florida feel.
With moss-draped oaks and tall hickory trees, stands of cabbage palms and a beautiful campsite, the Hickory Hammock Trail is an enjoyable destination
One of the grandaddies of the Florida Park System, Highlands Hammock State Park protects the amazing beauty of an ancient oak and palm hammock dense with trees many centuries old. A network of short trails and a scenic one-way loop drive make it easy for all visitors to appreciate the natural grandeur of this park.
Protecting 845 acres of the whitest, brightest sand on the Lake Wales Ridge, Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park has one of the highest concentrations of rare plants in North America.
The scrubs of the Lake Wales Ridge are one of North America’s most diverse biological communities, with the highest concentration of rare and endangered plants in the continental United States.
When hikers follow the Florida Trail around Lake Okeechobee, they walk right into historic Moore Haven to cross the broad Caloosahatchee River.
Sebring is in the heart of the state atop the Lake Wales Ridge, with significant natural areas along the Kissimmee River and its tributaries for outdoor recreation.
