Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Along the sweep of Charlotte Harbor near Punta Gorda, natural lands provide places to trek and paddle through a variety of sometimes soggy habitats.
Punta Gorda
Part of Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park, Alligator Creek has two loop trails where freshwater and saltwater habitats meet, enabling you to explore a variety of coastal habitats in less than three miles.
At Amberjack Environmental Park, a surprising collision of scrub and mangrove habitats occurs in Rotunda in the Cape Haze peninsula of Charlotte County.
At Babcock Wilderness Adventures – a popular ecotourism attraction east of Punta Gorda – the Ecotour Trail is a no-cost option to getting your feet wet on an exploration of wet flatwoods habitats along a well-maintained trail through the palmetto prairie.
Following old forest roads, the purple-blazed loop of the Footprints Trail through the heart of Babcock Ranch, a vast prairie punctuated by cypress strands, provides a simple introduction to this often-squishy ecosystem.
Offshore from Boca Grande and Pine Island, Cayo Costa State Park is tough to get to but the 6.5 miles of trails and many more miles of beaches will be yours to roam
To spend a day or a weekend on your own deserted island? Heaven. This is one of the tougher and costlier state parks to get to, but well worth it.
Charlotte County’s flagship environmental park, with a broad range of habitat diversity and wildlife, Cedar Point protects 115 acres of a peninsula in Lemon Bay
Where the Peace and Myakka Rivers meet, Charlotte Harbor covers more than five square miles, with the Charlotte County Blueway Trails providing paddlers access.
Stretched thin and long to follow the convoluted shoreline of Charlotte Harbor, Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park encompasses more than 60 miles of coastline along the Gulf Coast.
Imagine your own private island: a sweep of bright white sand along the shallows of the Gulf of Mexico. While a public park, open to all, Don Pedro Island State Park is a rare retreat for bathers, swimmers, and sun worshipers.
A string of five beaches along the Gulf shore of Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, this far-flung outpost of Lee County is home to one of Florida’s most delightful lighthouse museums.
At Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda, the rows and rows of sleek, high-powered driving machines fill the interior of a former Wal-Mart. Now that’s a car collection!
