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
First established in 1919 by botanist Henry Nehrling as a caladium farm, Caribbean Gardens grew into a major tourist attraction for tropical trees and plants, and is now the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens.
According to the Naples Daily News, two new hiking trails have opened in Conservation Collier lands to the east of Naples. Both are tiny nature preserves that offer residents a little immersion into the natural habitats displaced by construction in that part of the Big Cypress Swamp. Alligator Flag Preserve, with an entrance across from Gulf …
Encompassing the northwestern edge of the Big Cypress Swamp – CREW, or Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed – protects more than 60,000 acres of wetlands between Estero and Immokalee. While they’ve had access for years to a trail system showcasing pine flatwoods and marsh ecosystems off CR 850, they’ve recently unveiled a brand-new trail system leading …
Will you see a panther when hiking at Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge? I was fortunate to hike with a panther biologist and go on a tracking expedition, but we still came up empty-handed when it came to finding a big cat.
8.2 miles. Now the Roberts Lake Trail, the former Loop Road to Oasis section of the Florida Trail is now blazed blue. It is where sawgrass and cypress meet, where the Everglades and Big Cypress blend.
Protecting vast mangrove forests and coastal habitats between Naples and Ten Thousand Islands NWR, Rookery Bay NERR encompasses a mind-boggling 110,000 acres.
At Collier-Seminole State Park, the short and intriguing Royal Palm Hammock Trail is a wild but gentle introduction to the habitats protected by this park. Although the boardwalks are slippery, you can explore the coastal prairie and mangrove marsh without getting your feet wet.
Slosh for up to 3.5 miles on a very wet walk in the Big Cypress Swamp along the Sabal Palm Trail at Picayune Strand State Forest near Naples.
Exploring Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park for a chapter of a new book we’re writing, a pair of park rangers named Steve guide us to the park’s beauty spots
There is a special magic surrounding a summer hike through Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where ghost orchids dance high above in the soft green canopy created by the ancient cypress protected here
Vibrant, green, and blooming – there’s no better time to visit Big Cypress National Preserve than in the summer months, when the gentle flow of collected raindrops across the landscape nourishes the sawgrass prairies and cypress strands
3.0 miles. Trying the hiking portion of the Tamiami Trail Triathlon in summer is a little crazy, but we wanted to check it out. The swamp is lovely, but the loop uses a rough OHV road
