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Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

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Sarasota

A mecca for the arts, Sarasota has popular beaches on its barrier islands and a surprising amount of green space
INTERACTIVE MAP

Backpacking Myakka River State Park

Myakka River State Park

November 10, 2011    Sandra Friend

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.

Celery Fields

Wetlands at Celery Fields

Sarasota      ( 27.32539, -82.43339 )      3.2 miles

A historic agricultural area transformed into a haven for birders, Celery Fields offers easy walking, running, and biking on paved and unpaved trails built around restored wetlands.

Florida’s Best Urban Parks

Oleta River State Park

October 27, 2016    Sandra Friend & John Keatley

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.

Get outdoors at Oscar Scherer State Park

Oscar Scherer South Creek

August 19, 2009    Sandra Friend

It’s summer, but that shouldn’t stop you from playing outdoors. Go paddle at Oscar Scherer State Park.

Historic Spanish Point

December 7, 2013    Sandra Friend

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.

Joan M. Durante Community Park

Boardwalk through mangroves

Longboat Key  |  Bradenton Beach
( 27.41444, -82.65782 )      1.2 miles

A bayfront park on Longboat Key with boardwalks meandering through mangrove forests plus wide shell paths traversing a native upland hammock.

Lake Osprey Trail

Lake Osprey Trail

Oscar Scherer State Park  |  Osprey
( 27.174977, -82.462284 )      1.0 miles

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.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Marie Selby Gardens

Sarasota      ( 27.328352,-82.539812 )      

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.

Myakka Hiking Trail

Sunrise at Bee Island

Myakka River State Park  |  Sarasota
( 27.274109, -82.263095 )      20.1 miles

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

Myakka River Canopy Walk

Myakka Canopy Walk Bridge

Myakka River State Park  |  Sarasota
( 27.246417, -82.302700 )      0.8 miles

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.

Myakka River State Park

Myakka Canopy Walk Tower

Sarasota      ( 27.239406,-82.316719 )      

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

Oscar Scherer adds second ADA-compliant trail

Lake Osprey Trail

May 26, 2010    Sandra Friend

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 …

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Apalachicola. Apalachicola National Forest. Blackwater River State Forest. Blountstown. Bonifay. Bristol. Cape San Blas. Carrabelle. Chattahoochee. Chipley. Crawfordville. Crestview. DeFuniak Springs. Destin. Ebro. Eglin Air Force Base. Fort Walton Beach. Freeport. Gulf Islands National Seashore. Madison. Marianna. Milton. Monticello. Mossy Head. Navarre Beach . Niceville. Panama City Beach. Pensacola. Ponce De Leon. Port St. Joe. Quincy. Sopchoppy. South Walton. St. Marks. St. Marks NWR. Tallahassee. Vernon. Wakulla. Wewahitchka

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Arcadia. Basinger. Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress Seminole Reservation. Clewiston. Everglades City. Fisheating Creek. Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Lake Placid. LaBelle. Lakeport. Moore Haven. Okeechobee. Pahokee. Port Mayaca. Sebring. South Bay

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