Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
Parks, natural lands, and trails notable for wildlife encounters, the whole range from armadillos to alligators, Florida black bears to gopher tortoises, and manatees to whales.
A first-magnitude spring along the Suwannee River, Troy Spring State Park has the remains of a Civil War steamboat cradled in its rocky waters.
At Eden Gardens State Park, the Tucker Bayou Trail starts and ends at the Tucker Bayou picnic area and leads you through dense forests above the bayou
Peek through thick curtains of Spanish moss beneath grandfather live oaks along the shores of an ancient lake
A linear trail, the Upper Hillsborough River Hiking Trail meanders through pine flatwoods, oak hammocks, and floodplain forests along the edge of the Hillsborough River basin.
Three short nature trails – the Eagle Trail, the Otter Trail, and the Bobcat Trail – explore different aspects of this conservation park’s ecosystems, including the mangrove-lined estuary
A prime Space Coast destination for birding and wildlife photography, Viera Wetlands is a man-made habitat perched on the edge of the St. Johns River floodplain
Tucked between neighborhoods just north of downtown Tampa, Violet Cury Preserve provides a quiet wooded trail with scenic views of Lake Flynn.
The only fully-accessible trail at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the Visitor Center Boardwalk offers many overlooks for wildlife watching and birding
Savor the view from five stories up as you scan the horizon for wild horses from the observation tower on the south rim of Paynes Prairie
Along its ragged, marshy shoreline, the meandering Waccasassa River empties out into Waccasassa Bay, flats stretching out to the Gulf of Mexico. Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park can only be explored by water – from the boat ramps at Yankeetown, Gulf Hammock, or the shoreline of Cedar Key – with no landside access.
Wading birds everywhere: that’s the delight of a walk along the boardwalks of Wakodahatchee Wetlands
A 1930s resort turned nature park surrounding one of the world’s largest and deepest springs, Wakulla Springs State Park leads you back in time at Florida’s only state park lodge
