Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Sitting atop the ancient dunes of the Lake Wales Ridge, the Lake Wales – Frostproof area in southern Polk County is rich with outdoor recreation opportunities.
Lake Wales
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.
The 6.9-mile Buster Island Loop at Lake Kissimmee State Park is a favorite for both day hikers and backpackers, as it shows off a variety of habitats along the open prairies
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.
Allan David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park isn’t just “a perfect example of Lake Wales Ridge Scrub,” it’s a landscape unlike any other you’ll find in Florida.
With an interlinking network of loop trails, Crooked Lake Prairie is a refreshing excursion into habitats found on the high hills of the Lake Wales Ridge
105.7 miles. Following the Kissimmee River floodplain, this is a scenic section of the Florida Trail with a mix of levees, shady woods, river views, open prairies, and cattle ranches.
Deep in the heart of Florida’s heartland, ranching heritage lives on at Lake Kissimmee State Park, home of the 1876 Florida Cow Hunters Camp.
The lesser used of the two long loops at Lake Kissimmee State Park, the North Loop leads you through shady oak hammocks to pine flatwoods above the scrub-lined shore of Lake Kissimmee
Atop the highest point on the Florida Peninsula stands a monument to an immigrant who lived the American Dream and decided that his legacy would be to preserve this high point: Bok Tower Gardens.
With up to 6.2 miles of trails – many of them a bit wet – SUMICA is one of the natural lands in Polk County where birding is especially superb.
We launched a new full-color edition of 50 Hikes in Central Florida at the National Trails Festival in Deland the first weekend of October. Take a peek inside.
Edward Bok called it “The Jungle,” this deeply folded landscape between Tiger Creek and Patrick Creek south of Lake Wales now protected as Tiger Creek Preserve. Explore its fascinating ridges and valleys along this 6.3-mile linear hike between its trailheads, one of many hiking options possible.
