Florida Hikes
Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Parks and trails in Florida that feature observation decks for enjoying scenic views and watching wildlife.
At the edge of Boynton Beach, where historic farmlands have given way to subdivisions, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a 145,000 acre buffer between suburbia and the Everglades.
On the northern end of Key Biscayne, a set of sandy and paved trails lead out to a boardwalk overlooking fossilized coral reefs and downtown Miami in the distance.
At Blackwater River State Forest, each of the recreation areas offers access to hiking, and popular Bear Lake is no exception. A 3.8-mile trail loops around this impounded reservoir, which flows into Sweetwater Creek.
Betty Steflik Memorial Preserve protects 320 acres of mangrove marsh, mud flats, and coastal uplands fronting downtown Flagler Beach.
On a peninsula where the Timucua used the surrounding estuary for sustenance, Betz-Tiger Point Preserve provides more than six miles of breezy trails.
Discover fresh perspectives on the abundance of tropical habitats at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park on the newly reconfigured Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk.
Explore a sweep of coastal forest and wetlands along one of Florida's largest lagoons, with panoramas that stretch to Perdido Key and the Gulf of Mexico.
Slipping through coastal habitats on the bluffs of Big Talbot Island, this linear path keeps extending as erosion forces shifts in shoreline access.
Inside the City of Orlando, the urban Bill Frederick Park has a wild side, too, with more than 2 miles of trails to meander through scrub forest and along Turkey Lake.
North of Orlando, Black Bear Wilderness Area in Sanford offers some of the best wildlife watching in the region on its loop along the St. Johns River.
If you've never seen manatees by the dozens, let alone a hundred or more, there is no better place to watch these gentle giants than the Blue Spring Boardwalk in the wintertime
Offering a bounty of outdoor and nature activities along with museums and public spaces, Bonnet Springs Park is an urban gem in the city of Lakeland, a top destination statewide for family nature fun.
