Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Naples is the western gateway to the wilds of South Florida, a tropical getaway on the Gulf
Swift tides rolling through Wiggins Pass define the northernmost beach of Naples, a spread of sun-drenched sand at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park within sight of a line of condos that stretch southward.
In a lesser-known corner of the Big Cypress Swamp, Dr. Robert H Gore III Preserve immerses hikers in truly wild South Florida landscapes on its nature trails.
During their first-ever bat monitoring program at Picayune Strand State Forest, FWC found a rare and endangered species – the bonneted bat, Florida’s largest bat.
It’s the Amazon of North America, home of the ghost orchid. Protecting more than 85,000 acres, Fakahatchee Strand is Florida’s largest state preserve and most certainly our wildest.
The longer of two loops at Florida Panther NWR guarantees a wet walk through panther habitat of wet pine flatwoods and cypress domes
38.3 miles. Featuring the wettest, wildest wilderness traversed by backpackers in Florida, the Florida Trail in Big Cypress National Preserve is both beautiful and extraordinarily challenging.
8.0 miles. An easy ramble from the I-75 rest area north along Nobles Grade, this wildlife-rich segment of the Florida Trail offers several loop options for day hikers and backpackers.
30.3 miles. Traversing a vast wilderness in the wet wilds of Big Cypress National Preserve, the southernmost segment of the Florida Trail is the toughest backpacking trip in Florida
56.2 miles. Stretching from the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation to Lake Okeechobee, the Florida Trail Seminole section traverses a vast agricultural region, the former Everglades. Hiking is on roads and levees.
Heading north through Big Cypress, the Florida Trail immerses hikers through one of the last wild spaces of the region, then connects to Okeechobee via dikes.
At the Koreshan Unity in Estero, Florida, a group of believers gathered in 1894 to build their paradise. It is now a National Historic Site and a Florida State Park. Walk the trails and streets of “New Jerusalem” to learn its story.
Get a new perspective on Naples by hiking, biking, or paddling through the city’s urban mangrove forest
