Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Okeechobee is the heart of Florida’s old frontier, surrounded by vast prairies with cattle ranches and the sweep of Lake Okeechobee, one of America’s largest lakes.
It’s been a year since we purchased Primrose, our 1982 VW Vanagon. Here’s a recap of where we’ve been and what we’ve seen.
It isn’t rare for winds to streak across the surface of Lake Okeechobee, picking up speed as they travel. But some mornings are windier than others, and this was one of them.
Our 2020 update of the state of the Florida Trail around Lake Okeechobee. Thru-hikers should continue to use Okeechobee West as their route around the lake. We provide full details on why.
Nine days, 109 miles: that’s the circuit around Lake Okeechobee to complete a walk around the second largest lake inside American borders on the Big O Hike.
Day four of the 2007 Big O Hike evolved into a relaxed walk from the halfway point back into the campground in Okeechobee, greeting hikers along the way.
On the third day of the 2007 Big O Hike, I walk with Cliff Moody, the oldest man to ever complete the walk around Lake Okeechobee.
Discovering that the Big O Hike can be a vacation immersed in the beauty of Lake Okeechobee, I take the time to slow down and enjoy nature at my own pace.
Making the decision to walk the Florida Trail east or west around Lake Okeechobee used to be easy. Now, with construction zones blocking access to much of the southern half of the lake, it isn’t. Here are the facts on each route’s strengths and weaknesses to help you decide the best route for you.
“You are gonna get blisters,” a veteran hiker told us, “Everyone does.” I remember hearing his words standing in the small town of Pahokee, Florida, my heart wildly beating, waiting for the hike to begin.
In Central Florida, the Florida Trail presents two options: east or west around the Orlando metro. Forested public lands provide protection for much of the route.
2.7 miles. Burrow deep into the oak hammocks surrounding a beauty spot of the campsite near the Kissimmee River on this short but satisfying hike
3.7 miles. It looks like a mountain ridge from a distance, but Chandler Slough is a ribbon of cypress strand through the flat Okeechobee prairies. Follow its rim through beautiful oak hammocks and soggy marshes.
