Rivers Road Preserve
Naples 1.5 milesNestled within a setting of suburban neighborhoods and golf courses, Rivers Road Preserve is a slice of sanctuary for endangered species alongside a crucial wildlife corridor.
Roberts Lake Trail
Eastern Continental Trail 8.2 miles8.2 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.
Rookery Bay NERR
Protecting vast mangrove forests and coastal habitats between Naples and Ten Thousand Islands NWR, Rookery Bay NERR encompasses a mind-boggling 110,000 acres.
Royal Palm Hammock Nature Trail
Naples 0.9 milesNot quite a mile long, this intriguing nature trail explores a gradient of habitats from tropical hammock to salt marsh and mangrove forest.
Sabal Palm Trail
Naples 2.2 milesSlosh 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.
Stranding Steves at Fakahatchee
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
Summer at Corkscrew
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
Summer in Big Cypress
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
Tamiami Trail Triathlon
Big Cypress National Preserve 3 miles3.0 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
Ten Thousand Islands
Where the waters of Big Cypress and the Everglades meet the Gulf Coast, the Ten Thousand Islands are a maze of mangrove forest: the second largest mangrove forest in the world, bested only by Bangladesh
Ten Thousand Islands Marsh Trail
Everglades City 2.4 milesOn the Marsh Trail, immerse yourself in the mangrove maze of the Ten Thousand Islands on a trail that takes you to places you'd normally only see from a boat.
The Ghost Orchid
On a guided swamp walk into the Fakahatchee Strand, I discover how difficult it is to spot a ghost orchid on your own, let alone keep your bearings in this tangled tropical wilderness