Florida Trail Hiking Guide

A hiker’s guide to the Florida National Scenic Trail
and connected side trails

Third Edition, October 2017. 356 pages, $18.95.

The next edition of this book is not planned for release until Fall 2020. All cumulative updates to the current edition are available here.

Our third edition of the The Florida Trail Guide owes a great deal to the collaboration between ourselves and the Florida Trail Guide App we produce with Guthook Guides. To keep the app fresh, we’re out on the trail anytime we hear of changes to it. Mileages in the book are now spot-on accurate, derived from the GPS tracks in the app as of July 2017. While bulking up details for the app by hiking and re-hiking segments of the trail, we’ve been able to transfer much of that level of detail to this new edition of the book as well. Our focal areas for the past two years have been North Florida and the Panhandle, where you’ll find a great deal of new trail landmarks added.

The Florida Trail Guide provides detailed logistics for hiking and backpacking the Florida Trail, whether you’re planning a weekend trip with friends, an outing with a Scout troop, a week in the woods, section hikes of significant length, or a full thru-hike of 1,100 miles across the state of Florida.

What’s new?

Accurate mileages based on GPS.
More detailed mileage charts with more waypoints.
At least 10 new designated campsites statewide.
More than 40 miles of relocations updated.
More than 20 miles of roadwalks eliminated.
Hundreds of additional trail landmarks described.
More in-depth detail for hiking in Northwest Florida.
Data spreads clustered at the beginning of each chapter for easier grab-and-go.

What’s inside?

Logistics for nearly 1,500 miles of trail.
43 updated regional overview maps.
62 town maps annotated with updated service details.
18 sections, including connector trails.
GPS coordinates for trailheads.
At-a-glance service icons.
Section and thru-trail mileage for each chapter.
Mileage details based on trail landmarks.
Mileages between designated campsites.
Post office hours and locations.
Lodgings and campgrounds near the trail.
Outfitters and shuttle providers along the trail.
Contact information for thousands of services.
How to get to and from the termini.
Permit requirements and precautions.
Basics for hiking in Florida.
A list of camping and backpacking outfitters in Florida.
A list of where to buy stove fuel along the trail.
A full list of where to send maildrops.
Alternate routes provided for flooding and closures.
Southbounder alerts throughout the book.
All roadwalks are highlighted in the text.
Eastern Continental Trail details for Key West to Big Cypress.
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail details, good for hikers and cyclists.
Links to more details online.

Originally inspired by The AT Guide, this 356 page guidebook covers the full length of the Florida National Scenic Trail as well as major side trails that connect to it: Blackwater, Ocean-to-Lake, and the Eastern Continental Trail between Key West and Big Cypress Preserve. Data spreads and service spreads are provide in an easy-to-read format (please see samples). Mileages, and the overall flow of the book, are based on a typical thru-hiker route from Big Cypress to Fort Pickens, with alternate routes fully detailed throughout. Connecting side trails are included in the back of the book.

Trail segments found in this book (click to enlarge map)

Updates

During the course of each hiking season, we keep track of trail relocations, services changing, and closures – both temporary and permanent. You can find our cumulative updates for each edition here:

Third Edition updates
Second Edition updates
First Edition updates

App Version

A geolocated version of the information in this guidebook is available as an app for iPhone or Android through Atlas Guides / Guthook Guides. Using the GPS technology in your smartphone, the app works offline, showing you where you are on the trail and the resources near you. See app features here.