Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Easy weekend backpacking trips that you can tackle in various parts of Florida. Most of them are portions of the statewide Florida Trail.
.Weekends
The Big Oak Trail is one of the most scenic hikes in North Florida. Much of the hiking parallels the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers, which meet here at a confluence.
39.1 miles. Savor a rugged hike through rolling hills and rocky terrain on one of Florida’s longest backpacking loops when you take on the Citrus Hiking Trail near Inverness
An immersion into vast pine flatwoods that includes scrambles over ancient dunes, the East Loop at Jonathan Dickinson State Park provides both day hikers and backpackers a delightful getaway.
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.
24.9 miles. With three stacked loops of blazed footpaths in Withlacoochee State Forest, the Croom Hiking Trail is one of the oldest and driest loop hike destinations for backpackers on the Florida Trail
43.8 miles. A prime destination for backpacking and day hiking south of Ocala, the Florida Trail follows the Cross Florida Greenway through woodlands between the Withlacoochee and Ocklawaha Rivers
9.7 miles. Follow a ribbon of tall grasses and lily-dotted ponds along Farles Prairie before trekking miles through classic sand pine scrub to the Juniper Prairie Wilderness
16.6 miles. On the very first trail built in Blackwater River State Forest, the Florida Trail rises up from the red clay bluffs of Juniper Creek to enter extensive longleaf pine forests.
One of the most beautiful hikes near Orlando is rugged, too: the Florida Trail atop bluffs above the Econlockhatchee River through Little-Big Econ State Forest.
One of the most scenic segments of the Florida Trail, the hike from Pat’s Island to Hidden Pond immerses you in the Big Scrub en route to an oasis in Florida’s desert.
Home of ancient cypress trees and the remains of a 1700s rice plantation, Rice Creek Conservation Area has a fascinating loop trail along the statewide Florida Trail
7.5 miles. Walk through vast, open spaces that you’d never imagine existed so close to Orlando.
