Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
With an array of parks and natural lands and a network of bike trails, Lakeland is a hub for outdoor recreation
INTERACTIVE MAP
As the largest natural area in the Tampa Bay region, Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve is a major destination for recreation, with seven entrances across 16,000 acres
An easy excursion into a dense hardwood forest along a natural floodplain, the Mac Lake Nature Trail at Colt Creek State Park is an interpretive walk in the woods
Sample a colorful corner of more than 1,100 acres of conservation land along the eastern shore of Lake Hancock on a hike combining oak hammocks and wetlands for birding
At the site of a former phosphate mine, a boardwalk slips through the cypress swamps of the Peace River floodplain at Mosaic Peace River Park near Fort Meade.
Crossing the Lake Kissimmee State Park park drive multiple times, the 6.8-mile North Loop is the easiest trail to access within the park, offering excellent birding
Atop one of the highest points in Florida 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
Along a quiet shoreline of the Peace River, an interpretive visitor center, the remains of a Seminole War era fortress, and a memorial are important components of Paynes Creek Historic State Park, which memorializes the flashpoint of the Third Seminole War.
Following Paynes Creek to its confluence with the Peace River, the Peace River Trail at Paynes Creek Historic State Park is a nature trail with scenic overlooks
An urban park with camping east of downtown Lakeland, Saddle Creek Park has a 2.4 mile round-trip birding trail and a connector to Tenoroc
Connecting Auburndale with Polk City and the Van Fleet Trail, this linear bike path is a greenway through a growing community along the Polk Parkway east of Lakeland
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.
Under a tight-knit canopy of live oaks, Trout Creek Park provides a pleasant place for a family picnic and a nature walk along the floodplain of the Hillsborough River
