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

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Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is one of Florida’s largest landforms, a large shallow bay with many urban communities along its shores, most notably Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Florida’s Waters

Lafayette Blue Spring

June 13, 2016    Sandra Friend

In Florida, water is an ever-present part of our lives. A visit to the Rainbow River yesterday brought back memories of the past and concerns for the future of Florida’s waters.

George McGough Nature Park

Boardwalk framed by live oaks and saw palmetto

Largo      ( 27.881937, -82.840918 )      0.8 miles

Introduce the kids to nature at George McGough Nature Park in Largo, where they can feed turtles, watch hawks, and bound along a bouncy accessible trail through a coastal forest.

Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum

Palm Arboretum

St. Petersburg      ( 27.782204,-82.625795 )      0.3 miles

A lush oasis on St. Petersburg’s Tampa Bay waterfront, the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum features a bounty of palm species in a small space

Hightower Trail System

Palm fronds draping over trail

Terra Ceia Preserve State Park   |  Bradenton
( 27.58083, -82.57266 )      4.1 miles

Strongly influenced by nearby Tampa Bay, Terra Ceia Preserve State Park protects unique landscapes where marine and terrestrial ecosystems blend seamlessly.

Madira Bickel Mound State Archaeological Site

Madira Bickel Mound

Bradenton      ( 27.566119,-82.592919 )      

Protected since 1948 as Florida’s first state archaeological site, this is a 20-foot-high temple mound along the coast of Tampa Bay

Maximo Park

Dock edged by mangroves

St. Petersburg      ( 27.708978, -82.679634 )      1.4 miles

A tropical oasis in the middle of St. Petersburg’s Skyway District, Maximo Park is an excellent urban destination for a breezy walk or a paddle on Tampa Bay.

Robinson Preserve

Mangrove lined pond with trail marker

Bradenton      ( 27.514320, -82.662139 )      4.4 miles

Farmland turned back to mangrove marshes: that’s Robinson Preserve, with more than 4 miles of hiking on shell and wild pathways along Tampa Bay at Bradenton.

Ruskin

Tomatoes piled up for market

The Little Manatee River meets Tampa Bay at Ruskin, a farming community in southern Hillsborough County best known for its delicious tomatoes sold statewide.

Serenova Preserve

Hikers at Serenova (courtesy Save Serenova)

February 13, 2018    Sandra Friend

Accessed via a trailhead along SR 52, the 6,533-acre Serenova Tract of Starkey Wilderness Preserve is the “wild space” to the north of J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey. An effort is underway to try to put a road through the preserve, and locals are fighting against it. Here’s what’s going on and how you can help.

Soldier’s Hole Nature Trail

Soldier's Hole is lined with mangroves

Fort De Soto Park  |  St. Petersburg
( 27.617618, -82.728671 )      2.0 miles

The interpretive Soldier’s Hole Trail at Fort De Soto State Park offers a close look at the three varieties of mangroves that grow in Florida plus some gorgeous views of Bunce’s Pass.

St. Petersburg

Aerial view of St. Petersburg, Florida

The western terminus for the Florida Coast to Coast Trail, St. Petersburg’s urban green space is largely coastal and tropical along the breezy tip of the Pinellas peninsula.

Tampa

People looking inside a massive ancient cypress

While Tampa is a large city along the north shore of Tampa Bay, it has many natural lands protecting its water supply, providing outdoor recreation opportunities.

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