Part of the Florida State Forests Trailwalker program, the Bear-N-Oak Trail at Indian Lake State Forest is a 1.6-mile loop that provides a fascinating look at habitat diversity centered on Indian Lake, a major karst feature in the Ocala Limestone
Ocala
Ocala is surrounded by more than 200 miles of hiking trails, including two large segments of the Florida Trail along the Cross Florida Greenway and through the Ocala National Forest. The Santos Bike Trails are renowned throughout the state for their diversity and difficulty, and there are some of the best paddling runs in the region nearby on the Silver, Rainbow and Withlacoochee Rivers and at Juniper Springs.
Belleview
With the Cross Florida Greenway hugging its northern boundary, and the famed Santos Trails for mountain bikers, Belleview is a destination for outdoor recreation
Bridge to the Future: The Marjorie Harris Carr Cross-Florida Greenway
As we walk the mile and a quarter along the Florida Trail through deep woods to the west of Belleview, the low-hanging clouds that threatened the morning with rain now part. Emerging from the forest, we step into bright sun—and a crowd of more than a hundred people, gathered here in a clearing. Thousands of […]
Buffet on the beach
On New Years Eve day, I had the pleasure of leading 32 hikers through a trail system that none of them had ever explored before: Carney Island Park. One of Marion County’s finest parks, it preserves a peninsula jutting out into Lake Weir near Ocklawaha. I’ve been there several times before, rambling the trails both […]
Chasing Rainbows: Florida Springs Protection
April is Florida Springs Protection Month, according to our state agencies. A walk through Rainbow Springs State Park confirms that as beautiful as they look, the springs are not in good health.
Chiefland
Not far from where the Suwannee River flows out into the Gulf of Mexico, Chiefland is a major community with access to public lands along the Suwannee River and Goethe State Forest.
Comfort Suites Dunnellon
The newest accommodations to open in Dunnellon, Comfort Suites is a welcoming place with an airy lobby, stone fireplace, and comfortable rooms near recreation on the Rainbow River and Cross Florida Greenway.
Cross Florida Greenway
Stretching from the St. Johns River near Palatka to the Gulf of Mexico, the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway is a mile-wide recreational corridor that contains equestrian, mountain biking, hiking, and paved trails.
Cross Florida Greenway – Finding a Route
After several years of working on trail crews in Western Pennsylvania, I returned home to Florida in 1999 looking to find an organization similar to the Keystone Trails Association, which coordinated volunteer efforts on hiking trails. I discovered the Florida Trail Association, and to my delight, an active trail-building effort going on very close to […]
Cross Florida Greenway -The Land Bridge
A landmark along Interstate 75 near Ocala, the Land Bridge remains one of the more popular destinations for hikers, bikers, and equestrians on the Cross Florida Greenway.