Home of “I Dream of Jeannie” and the best surfing on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, Cocoa Beach is a top destination for beachgoers and folks who just love to play outdoors.
St. Cloud
Once the heart of frontier Florida, St. Cloud is a bustling community to the east of Kissimmee with an expansive lakefront on East Lake Toho.
Fall in the floodplain
For years, I’ve heard people fuss about the “lack of seasons” in Florida. Spend a little time in the woods, and you’ll tune in to Florida’s unique seasonality. Wildflowers do the best job of showing off what time of year it is, but our floodplain forests do, too. Depending on where you are in the […]
Florida Trail, Bull Creek WMA
Providing a 20.5 mile loop for backpacking amid open pine savannas and prairies, the Florida Trail at Bull Creek WMA is a popular destination.
Florida Trail, Prairie Lakes Loop
Alternating between moss-draped oak hammocks and the wide open prairies that characterize this part of the state, the Florida Trail loop at Prairie Lakes provides one of Central Florida’s oldest and most scenic hiking destinations.
Florida Trail, Three Lakes WMA
At Three Lakes WMA / Prairie Lakes Unit, the Florida Trail traverses one of the largest expanses of open prairie in the Southeast, the Kissimmee Prairie.
Kissimmee
On the north shore of Lake Toho, Kissimmee is a historic community at the headwaters of the Everglades, the marshes that feed the Kissimmee River.
Lake Lizzie Conservation Area
Hugging the eastern shore of Lake Lizzie, Lake Lizzie Conservation Area encompasses more than a thousand acres along several lakes set among a vast mosaic of prairies, pine flatwoods, and scrub forest. Hikers, cyclists, and equestrians can explore the extensive trail network.
Lake Lizzie Marsh Loop
In the most accessible corner of the thousand acres that make up Lake Lizzie Conservation Area in St. Cloud, the Marsh Loop is an easy 1.7 mile hiking-only loop.
Lake Runnymede Conservation Area
Ancient live oaks provide a tightly knit canopy over the 0.9-mile trail system at Lake Runnymede Conservation Area, a 43 acre urban preserve.
Melbourne
Melbourne is rich in natural lands and parks that invite exploration, including habitats that are the northernmost point for many tropical species like gumbo-limbo.