Wildflower Hikes

Florida is well known for its abundance of blooms. See them best along our trails.

Spring and fall are the prime wildflower seasons for Florida’s major habitats – pine flatwoods and sandhills – with showy displays of both common and rare species, especially in the northern reaches of the state.

Summer brings out bright colors in the sawgrass prairies of South Florida as well as orchids in the southern swamps and in the hammocks of Central Florida.

Resources

Resources for discovering Florida wildflower walks
 
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Florida Wildflower Identification

Florida Wildflowers Florida's wildflowers give a compelling reason to get outdoors. Use these resources to identify what you see.

Best Scenic Wildflower Hikes

With hundreds of places to see wildflowers along Florida’s trails, we want to send you to the top spots first. Start with these.

Sunflowers on the St. Johns For more than a decade, I've been chasing sunflower blooms in Florida wetlands in October. In 2021, it's a banner year for these showy beauties in Central Florida.

Angus Gholson Nature Park Above the Apalachicola River, the community of Chattahoochee hides a natural treasure in its deep ravines—a park named for its native son, botanist Angus Gholson.

Apalachee Savannas Scenic Byway In the Apalachicola National Forest, the Apalachee Savannas Scenic Byway is a winding stretch of scenic road through expansive wet flatwoods and open pine savannas

Apalachicola National Forest Noted for its botanical beauty, the Apalachicola National Forest is the largest National Forest in Florida, sweeping south and west of Tallahassee.

Blackwater River State Forest At Blackwater River State Forest near Milton, immerse yourself in the largest state forest in Florida: 190,000 acres surrounding the Blackwater River and its tributaries.

Clear Creek Nature Trail The Clear Creek Nature Trail leads you to a wonderland of bright blossoms and lacy white-veined trumpets reflected against reflections of the sky.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Weaving beneath a canopy knit by old-growth cypress trees in a majestic swamp forest, the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one of Florida's best hikes

DuPuis Loop Trail Made up of four stacked loops, the DuPuis Loop Trail lets you tailor your length of hike from 5.3 to 16.5 miles.

Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park Ancient magnolias, massive tulip poplars, and sinuous alluvial streams are all part of the delights of hiking the extensive loops at Tallahassee's most expansive and wild urban park.

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park It’s the Amazon of North America, home of the ghost orchid. Protecting more than 85,000 acres, Fakahatchee Strand is Florida's largest state preserve and most certainly our wildest.

Flat Island Preserve Established as a botanical preserve for native plants, Flat Island Preserve protects islands in the Okahumpa Marsh, offering hikers and paddlers immersion in a lush wilderness

Florida Caverns State Park A dip into Florida’s only show cave at Florida Caverns State Park brings on an instant sense of cool.

Florida Trail, Alaqua 12.8 miles. With significant botanical beauty, rugged climbs, and nice campsites, the Alaqua section of the Florida Trail in Eglin Air Force Base is one of the most scenic parts of the trail statewide.

Florida Trail, Seminole State Forest 7.5 miles. Walk through vast, open spaces that you’d never imagine existed so close to Orlando.

Garcon Point Trail Pitcher plants and orchids accent expansive coastal prairie landscapes and diverse pine flatwoods along a series of trails at Garcon Point.

Garden of Eden Trail Try one of Florida's toughest day hikes on for size: local legend has it this was the Garden of Eden, and from the lush forests and rare flora along this trek, they might be on to something.

Holly Hammock Hiking Trail A 2.4 mile loop showing off the habitat diversity of Ross Prairie State Forest, this easy hike provides scenic panoramas across the prairie on a mostly shaded trail.

Kirby Storter Boardwalk An accessible walk through the habitats of the Big Cypress Swamp, Kirby Storter Boardwalk gets you up close to the wonders of nature in Big Cypress National Preserve

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park Enjoy Florida's own big sky at the only state park in Florida where starry skies fill the horizon and an extensive network of trails - including the Florida Trail - provides access for exploration

Lake Jesup Conservation Area Protecting large swaths of marshy shoreline, the Lake Jesup Conservation Area filters runoff from surrounding suburbia while providing places to hike along Lake Jesup

Leon Sinks Geological Area In the Apalachicola National Forest just south of Tallahassee, Leon Sinks Geological Area offers a delightful introduction to the wonders of karst topography on its trails.

Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park One of Florida's oldest state parks and notable for its Civilian Conservation Corps architecture, Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park offers a lesson in Florida topography.

Myakka Hiking Trail For immersion in the vast central prairies of the Florida peninsula, the 39-mile Myakka Hiking Trail is a serious backpacking destination in South Florida near Sarasota

Myakka State Forest South Loop Circling vast prairies amid pine flatwoods and depression marshes, the South Loop in Myakka State Forest provides a sense of perspective along the Myakka River basin.

Point Washington State Forest Protecting the upland watersheds of the Coastal Dune Lakes along the South Walton coastline, Point Washington State Forest offers extensive offroad biking and hiking trails

Split Oak Forest WEA A live oak tree more than 200 years old is the centerpiece of Split Oak Forest, a 2,000-acre prairie and scrub preserve near Orlando, home to families of sandhill cranes

Sundew Trail, Bald Point State Park A remarkable variety of wildlife inhabits dry and wet pine flatwoods along this loop trail dotted with tiny carnivorous sundew plants.

Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park Conserving a vast swath of wetland habitats in low-lying areas along the Perdido River floodplain, Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park is home to four species of Sarracenia - pitcher plants - unique to the Gulf Coast.

Terry Rhodes Trail System Featuring steep topography and a high biodiversity of plant life along its network of five loop trails, Bear Creek Educational Forest is the crown jewel of Lake Talquin State Forest.

Torreya State Park Perched on bluffs above the Apalachicola River, Torreya State Park is one of Florida’s first state parks, developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s

Wekiwa Springs State Park A massive wilderness area on the edge of the Orlando metro, Wekiwa Springs State Park is centered on a first-magnitude spring that pours forth a river lined with jungle-like vegetation

Wright Lake Trail At Wright Lake Recreation Area near Sumatra, a day hiking loop along the western edge of the Apalachicola National Forest features an unusual bridge and numerous pitcher plant bogs

Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park East of Pensacola, Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park is a sweeping panorama of wet prairies, home to the largest concentration of pitcher plants in Florida.