Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
With 39 miles in four loops, the Myakka Hiking Trail at Myakka River State Park in Sarasota is one of the state’s finest destinations for a weekend or long weekend holiday hike.
When you live in a tightly packed space, you need somewhere green as your go-to place nearby. These are our top picks for parks in Florida’s urban areas, chosen for their diversity of outdoor activities and/or their unique green spaces.
It’s summer, but that shouldn’t stop you from playing outdoors. Go paddle at Oscar Scherer State Park.
At Spanish Point, scents hang heavy in the morning air: a moonflower in the act of closing for the day, the sweetness of citrus blossoms, the purple morning-glory clambering over mangroves, the brush of salt breezes.
Circling Lake Osprey, the wheelchair-accessible Lake Osprey Trail at Oscar Scherer State Park offers an exploration of the uplands surrounding the artesian-spring-fed waters.
Most notable for its collection of more than 6,000 orchids, Marie Selby Gardens are a must-see for those who love tropical plants, especially epiphtyes. The many specialized gardens range from a children’s garden play area to succulents and cycads to a banyan grove, mangrove walkway, and tropical fruit and medicinal gardens.
For immersion in the vast central prairies of the Florida peninsula, the 39-mile Myakka Hiking Trail is a serious backpacking destination in South Florida near Sarasota
At Myakka River State Park in Sarasota, the Canopy Walk provides a sky-high view of the Myakka River basin as well as an intimate immersion in the live oak canopy in a beautiful hammock of oaks and palms.
With tall waving grasses, saw palmetto, and the sound of birds, Myakka River State Park is Florida’s Big Sky country, blanketing more than 28,000 acres east of Sarasota
From our friends at Oscar Scherer State Park: A low-key groundbreaking on April 15 marked the official start of the second ADA-compliant trail at Oscar Scherer State Park, according to Russell Delaney, president of the Friends of Oscar Scherer Park, Inc. One of 100 citizen support organizations (CSO) in Florida’s park system, the Friends are …
Blurs of blue flash between the diminutive scrub oaks as a family of Florida scrub-jays settle in, curious as to your approach. These colorful birds are only found in Florida, and Oscar Scherer State Park is their biggest stronghold in Southwest Florida.
The South Creek and Lester Finley Trails are part of the South Trail System at Oscar Scherer State Park, focusing on the flow of South Creek towards Little Sarasota Bay.
