The Apalachicola National Forest is the largest National Forest in Florida, sweeping around the southern edge of Tallahassee.
Botanical beauty and wilderness draw hikers and other enthusiasts to the vast trail systems, including a lengthy segment of the Florida Trail between Sopchoppy and Bristol. Home to the fabled Bradwell Bay, the Apalachicola is also the place to see pitcher plants bloom en masse every spring, especially on the western edge of the forest near Sumatra and the Apalachee Savannas.
Apalachicola National Forest – Camel Lake Loop - Circle a cypress lined pond in the Apalachicola National Forest on the Camel Lake Loop. It’s a short hike on high ground in a place where most habitats are downright swampy. Despite the name of [...]
Apalachicola National Forest – Fort Gadsden - On an early morning in the fog off the river, you can almost feel the ghosts slipping between the trees, sunlight dappling through the moist needles of longleaf pine and the air thick with the [...]
Apalachicola National Forest – Wright Lake Trail - This well-kept loop along the western edge of the Apalachicola National Forest was a real surprise to me. I expected pine plantations (and there were many), but did not expect the diversity of longleaf pine [...]
Florida Trail, Bradwell Bay - You’re guaranteed to get wet on Florida’s roughest, wildest swamp walk on the Florida Trail in Bradwell Bay, a wild place where hiking with friends is a smart idea. Situated south of Tallahassee, the Bradwell [...]
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. Karst is a landscape that happens through deep erosion of a soft [...]
Trail of Lakes - By itself, the Trail of Lakes is a 3.9-mile blue blazed connector between two portions of the Florida Trail around Camel Lake, a soggy, boggy walk in the Apalachicola National Forest. To enjoy it as [...]
