Central Florida

An easy loop at this popular county park, the Lithia Nature Trail slips behind the nature center for a walk in deeply shaded woods. Along the river’s floodplain corridor, you are in hammocks where massive cypresses and oaks rise above clear sand-bottomed streams in eroded gullies. Resources Overview Location: Lithia Length: 0.3 mile Lat-Lon: 27.867496,-82.137076 [...]

Little known except to those who frequent this beautiful campground in the Salt Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest, the Bear Swamp Trail provides a glimpse into the ancient forest that undoubtedly crowded the shores of Salt Springs when botanist and explorer William Bartram visited the “amazing crystal fountain” in 1774. The easy [...]

For those in the know, Black Hammock is a bit of Old Florida still clinging to the old ways along the shores of Lake Jesup, where folks still grow celery and strawberries and ride their horses down dirt roads. It’s a delightful place to visit, and the trail showcases what’s best about Black Hammock—the lush [...]

South of Astor along the St. Johns River, the Bluffton Recreation Area in Lake George State Forest paints a picture of Florida’s prehistoric past. As botanist William Bartram canoed the St. Johns River in 1773, he noted massive mounds of snail shells piled up on its shorelines. These middens, prehistoric garbage heaps, spoke to civilizations [...]

Protecting a windswept shoreline and a variety of habitats on a barrier island off the historic coastal community of Dunedin, Caladesi Island State Park is undoubtedly one of the gems of the Florida State Parks system. It’s been named the top beach in the United States, thanks to its quiet and remote location, the view [...]

Hang on for one wild walk! Allan David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park isn’t just “a perfect example of Lake Wales Ridge Scrub,” it’s a landscape unlike any other you’ll find in Florida. The Lake Wales Ridge is a long, slender ridge of ancient sand that stretches from around Clermont most of the way [...]

The Nature Center Tract is a birder’s delight. On a hike there with my parents, we saw at least two different pileated woodpeckers, and could hear sandhill cranes in the distance. The volunteer caretaking the nature center said that the sandhill cranes commonly gather in flocks here. The major loop trail on this tract circles [...]

Four days, 43 miles: that’s just part of the challenge of the Citrus Hiking Trail, the second-longest backpacking loop on a single piece of land in the state of Florida. Add aggressively rolling sandhills, steep descents into sinkholes, and rock-strewn footpaths, and you’ve got yourself one of Florida’s most rugged hikes. Traversing extreme contrasts in [...]

Call it the Ocean-to-Lagoon Hike: this loop trail through one of Brevard County’s most diverse natural lands connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River Lagoon in Melbourne Beach. Showcasing an array of habitats that change as you step up and down from coastal dunes to the shores of Florida’s largest lagoon, Coconut Point Sanctuary [...]

In a region where development has started to spread, Crooked Lake Prairie is a refreshing excursion into habitats found on the high hills of the Lake Wales Ridge. The network of interlinking loop trails includes the orange-blazed 1.3 mile Scrub Trail, the 0.3-mile purple blazed Lookout Trail, the 1.5 mile blue blazed Pine Woods Trail, [...]

In Crystal River, you can immerse in the beauty of a palm and cedar hammock right across the street from the Crystal River Mall. A wooden boardwalk leads into jungle-like cabbage palm flatwoods, with a staircase to access the natural portion of the trail (called “Pathway to the Past”) that meanders through a bottomland hardwood [...]

One of a string of scrub preserves that sprinkle the Space Coast between Titusville and Fellsmere, Dicerandra Scrub protects a sliver of scrub – only 44 acres – atop the Atlantic Coastal Ridge in an area otherwise fully surrounded by subdivisions. It is home to the rare Dicerandra Thinicola, also known as Titusville balm, a [...]

In the heart of Pinellas County, Eagle Lake Park is the legacy of the Taylor family, who helped to found Largo – then known as Citrus City – with their groves and citrus packing plant. Surrounding their homestead was one of the last significant pine forests in the most densely urban county in Florida, as [...]

Nestled up against the floodplain of the Econlockhatchee River, the Econlockhatchee Sandhills Conservation Area is a 706-acre showcase of upland habitat diversity jointly managed by Orange County and the St. Johns Water Management District to the east of Orlando. The high and dry loop trail weaves through sand pine scrub, well-established oak hammocks, pine flatwoods, [...]

Its not rocket science: the first and finest of the Brevard County EEL (Environmental Endangered Lands), Enchanted Forest Sanctuary in Titusville is a fabulous destination for family hiking. From the moment you step out of your car at the trailhead, you realize this is a magical place. It has a little bit of everything, including [...]

In 1938, amateur botanist and world traveler Albert Greenburg established a botanical garden with tropical plants around springs that fed a lush floodplain forest along Six Mile Creek. Years later, he started the first tropical fish farm in Florida in the springs, and in 1967 donated the 31-acre site to the county. Construction of the [...]

Get acquainted with Big Scrub on this 8.4-mile stretch of the Florida Trail in the Ocala National Forest as it rises through longleaf pine forests to meet the world’s largest sand pine scrub, punctuated by a variety of ponds and prairies. Connecting a first-magnitude spring with one of the more beautiful lakes in the Ocala [...]

Part of the new corridor that the Florida Trail follows in its arc around the east side of the Orlando metro area. Bronson State Forest – a new addition to the Division of Forestry – now includes a segment of the Florida Trail that replaces the old roadwalk down Fort Christmas Road. Spanning from Orlando [...]

Long referred to as the “jewel of the Florida Trail,” Juniper Prairie Wilderness in the Ocala National Forest is a complex mosaic of ancient scrub forests, pine islands, and broad, open prairies where wildlife thrives. The heart of the world’s largest sand pine scrub is also one of the state’s most flammable habitats, and, unfortunately, [...]

For a real blast, hike south on the Florida Trail from Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest. Back in the 1940s, Jimmy Doolittle and his squadron trained here for their bombing runs on Japan; today, you’re still likely to see or hear low-flying bombers on their practice runs throughout the bombing range that this [...]

As the Cross Florida Greenway sweeps through Ocala and along the edge of Belleview, it provides access to a series of forests broken by unobtrusive road crossings in the heart of horse country, canopied roads that are a joy to drive between the two trailheads. Bordered by horse farms, this section of the Florida Trail [...]

Tarzan’s signature cry once echoed along the crystalline Silver River less than a mile from this section of the Florida Trail, which leads you through a dense, dark floodplain forest beneath a canopy of deep green palm fronds and ancient live oaks. Between 1932 and 1942, Johnny Weissmuller swung from tree to tree for the [...]

As a protected corridor south of Ocala, this section of the Florida Trail is the westernmost segment on the Cross Florida Greenway, showing off the unusual terrain created during construction of the Cross Florida Ship Canal in the 1930s. It’s one of the few places in Central Florida you’ll find switchbacks along a hike, and [...]

Amid a patchwork of scrub ridges and longleaf pine islands, the Florida Trail makes its way northwest around the vastness of Lake Kerr on this 10.1 mile section. It’s accessible to day hikers via two connector trails – blazed in blue – that attach at Salt Springs and from behind The 88 Store, a popular [...]

At Seminole Ranch, the Florida Trail follows a string of hydric hammocks in the St. Johns River floodplain, spanning bridges over slow-moving tannic streams with steep sand bluffs. Ferns sprout from the tops and trunks of the cabbage palms. This is a lush, humid environment displaying the full spectrum of green across palm fronds and [...]

This short segment of the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway offers easy access to one of its most popular destinations—the Land Bridge over Interstate 75. From the highway, it looks somewhat odd, topped with trees, and is certainly a notable landmark for visitors driving south through Ocala. But the nation’s first Land Bridge [...]

Explore several coastal habitats on the Arrowhead Nature Trail at Fort De Soto Park, an interpretive walk with plenty of stops where you’ll learn all about the salt-dependent plants along the rim of Mullet Key Bayou. Several openings in the mangroves enable you to enjoy scenic views with a wide sweep of the shallows of [...]

Its name comes from legends of soldiers deserting the fort in the dead of night, slipping through the mangrove swamps to freedom. Soldier’s Hole is a cove in the mangrove forest, abuzz with mosquitoes and thick with tidal muck. It’s a nursery for fish and crustaceans taking their nutrients from the detritus formed by fallen [...]

As the headwaters of four of Central Florida’s largest rivers, – the Hillsborough, the Withlacoochee, the Ocklawaha, and the Peace – the Green Swamp is one of Central Florida’s most crucial natural resources. Despite the name, however, most of it is not underwater. Instead, it’s a mosaic of cypress domes amid pine flatwoods, sandhills, and [...]

Hidden deep in a leafy glade, a shimmering pool rises from the earth to pour through palm hammocks towards the St. Johns River. At Green Springs Park, the trails are short but well-groomed, with options for all abilities – a paved biking trail loops through the park along with a network of natural footpaths. Families [...]

As the St. Johns River snakes its way north from the Canaveral Marshes, it passes through a series of vast marshes and lakes well-known to Central Florida residents – Lake Harney, Lake Jesup, and Lake Monroe. What you rarely see, however – unless you’re a boater – are the connections between the lakes and marshes. [...]

From an aerial view, it’s obvious the region around Eustis and Mount Dora is pockmarked with sinkholes. Hidden Waters Preserve is managed by the Lake County Water Authority to protect and utilize a massive sinkhole— the Eichelberger Sink. When you’re descending into it along the Lake Alfred Trail, the slope is especially steep. The Ravine [...]

For a dip into the primordial wilderness that envelopes the Withlacoochee River on its northward flow to the Gulf of Mexico, take a short jaunt to Nobleton (Hernando County) for a nature trail that showcases some of the biggest cypresses around. The trail is entirely in the shade of the floodplain forest – prone to [...]

On this barrier island just north of Clearwater Beach, the Osprey Trail at Honeymoon Island State Park offers a close-up look at a rookery of “sea eagles,” the noble osprey. There are nesting colonies of osprey and pelicans along the Osprey and Pelican Trails, and sweeping views across the sound and the Gulf of Mexico. [...]

James E. Grey Preserve is a hidden treasure on the outskirts of New Port Richey, a quiet rural breather along the Pithlachascotee River. It’s in a most unexpected place: surrounded by modern-day subdivisions, a tiny patch of rural Florida exists down a bumpy one-lane limerock road, a handful of residences deep in the woods and [...]

One of my favorites for many years, the Johnson Pond Trail is Hike #3 in 50 Hikes in Central Florida. Although it combines elements of hikes I’m not fond of – shared use in a couple places, plus blazed forest roads used by vehicles – its beauty spots are such that it’s still worth visiting [...]

For a quick dip into the beauty of the St. Johns River floodplain, the Kratzert White Loop offers a family-friendly walk beneath ancient oaks and cabbage palms of enormous size. This 1.5-mile loop was originally built by the Central Florida chapter of the Florida Trail Association and continues to be well maintained and easy to [...]

Two trails, one trailhead. The Lake Eaton Trail is in the heart of the Big Scrub, part of the “Lake Eaton Trails” on the northeast side of Lake Eaton in the Ocala National Forest, halfway between Salt Springs and Nuby’s Corner along CR 314. From the air (or satellite photo) you can see Lake Eaton [...]

Most visitors to Lake Kissimmee State Park never see the lake. Certainly, they see the marina, and the Zipprer Canal that connects Lake Rosalie and Lake Kissimmee. Alligators sun on the canal banks, and you can hear airboats buzzing in the distance. But even from the very top of the observation tower, Lake Kissimmee is [...]

In the rolling hills of the Lake Wales Ridge south of Clermont, Lake Louisa is the southernmost lake in the Palatlakaha River chain of lakes, its waters flowing northward to feed Lake Susan, Lake Minehaha, and Lake Minneola. Extending between the park entrance and the recreation area along Lake Louisa, the hiking trails showcase the [...]

At the north edge of Tampa, Lettuce Lake Park protects 240 acres along the Hillsborough River, providing a getaway for hikers, bicyclists, and picnickers. Trapped between tall cypress trees in ponds dense with water lettuce, Lettuce Lake is a bend in the river creating a haunting swamp. Boardwalks lead you through this wild place. Best [...]

As one of several “Sandhills Trails” throughout Florida, the Sandhills Nature Trail at Lower Wekiva Preserve State Park lives up to its name. It’s a 2.2-mile loop through longleaf pine and wiregrass, an ecosystem that once covered the uplands of Central Florida. While the scrub along the Wekiva River basin attempts to seep into the [...]

Bordering and managed by the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge – the first wildlife refuge in America established to protect sea turtles – Maritime Hammock Sanctuary showcases maritime, or coastal hammock, marshlands, and mangroves along the Indian River Lagoon. It’s 150 acres preserved from the residental development that has otherwise spread up and down A1A [...]

The site of an open-pit phosphate mine until the early 1980s, this reclamation project borders the Peace River floodplain, where the boardwalk winds through the floodplain forest out to the river. Interpretive signs give background information on the 1,800-square-mile Peace River basin. Resources Overview Location: Fort Meade Length: 0.5-mile Lat-Long: 27.821817, -81.804433 Type: round-trip Fees [...]

Winding northward from Lake Griffin, the Ocklawaha River was once a meandering river through vast marshes, cypress swamps, and floodplain forests as it worked its way towards the St. Johns River near Palatka. But channelization by the Army Corps of Engineers radically altered its flow in many places, including around Moss Bluff. There are two [...]

Resources Overview Location: Vero Beach Length: 3 miles or more Lat-Long: 27.587051, -80.375452 Type: balloons Fees / Permits: none Difficulty: moderate Bug factor: moderate to annoying Restroom: none Open sunrise to sunset. Mosquitoes can be fierce at times; use plenty of protection. There are now two trails at Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area – this hike [...]

A stay at the Lakeside Inn jogged my memory of when I first discovered Palm Island Park. I was in the thick of researching a travel guide, and had walked down to the Dora Lighthouse to take some photos. I noticed people out on a boardwalk on the distant shoreline, and thought it was interesting [...]

Pelican Island isn’t just a National Wildlife Refuge, it’s the National Wildlife Refuge that started the whole concept going, back in 1903. Even further back, in 1858, the small island in the Indian River Lagoon – offshore from where the refuge access is today – was documented as a brown pelican breeding ground. On March [...]

Just south of Daytona Beach, Ponce Preserve protects a cross-section of barrier island habitats in a 40-acre ribbon between the Atlantic Ocean and the Halifax River at Ponce Inlet. Home of the Green Mound, a particularly significant archeological site, it’s also nature’s last stand on the barrier island where auto racing was born. Thanks to [...]

Although the Osceola District Schools Environmental Study Center is only open to the public on weekends, its trails provide an up-close look at more than a dozen old growth cypresses and wildlife along Reedy Creek. With its headwaters in what is now Walt Disney World, Reedy Creek flows sluggishly southward through cypress swamps into pristine [...]

An urban park just on the fringe of the industrial area east of downtown Lakeland, Saddle Creek Park draws a lot of attention for its primary attraction—fishing. Like those at nearby Tenoroc Fish Management Area, the oddly shaped lakes are remnants of phosphate mine pits, filled with water and stocked with game fish like largemouth [...]

Gushing more than 550 million gallons of water out of a cluster of springs each day, Silver Springs is the birthplace of the Silver River, a wild and scenic waterway that my paddler friends like to describe as “6 miles upstream and 1 mile downstream.” A tangled jungle of floodplain forest edges the meandering waterway [...]

Back in the 1980s, when I first heard that land had been acquired near Silver Springs for a state park, I was thrilled. Having grown up nearby, it bothered me that the Silver Springs attraction no longer let you roam the gardens for free, and I knew there would now be a way to walk [...]

It’s been a long time coming – Marion County’s first conservation area is now open for hikers to enjoy. Tucked between residential and business areas in Silver Springs across from Silver River State Park, this slice of sandhills and scrub is a crucial upland recharge area for the nearby first-magnitude spring. As rain falls on [...]

Fed by a trickle of hidden springs through lush hammocks of cabbage palms, Spring Hammock Preserve in Winter Springs is one of the most delightful places to take a hike in the Orlando area. In this 1,500 acre preserve, the trails are easy to explore. You have options ranging from paved to splashy muddy adventuresome, [...]

The prairies of Central Florida are fascinating places, rich with wildlife. Here, you’ll see flocks of wild turkeys and sandhill cranes, and that unusual looking falcon, the caracara. Protecting more than 4,000 acres of this habitat and purchased in 1997 as part of the Polk County Environmental Lands Program, SUMICA opened just a few years [...]

Looping through pine flatwoods in the middle of suburbia, the Friends Trail at Brooker Creek Preserve offers an escape from busy Pinellas County life. This was the first trail to open on the county’s largest nature preserve and remains a quiet getaway at the end of a dead-end road. While less than 2 miles long, [...]

Starting at a small trailhead off a side road off Wakeford Rd, the Jenkins Trail leads you to a cool tannic stream slicing through the desert-like scrub of the Lake Wales Ridge: Tiger Creek, for which this preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy is named. This is the northernmost trail in the preserve. Resources Overview [...]

At the end of a 71-acre peninsula – once an isthmus – between Lake Beauclair and Lake Carlton in the Harris chain of lakes, Trimble Park is an under-the-radar beauty spot of which Orange County should be quite proud. Ancient oaks line both shorelines and are the main feature in the primary part of the [...]

A linear hiking trail, the Upper Hillsborough River Hiking Trail meanders through pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods, open fields, oak hammocks, and floodplain forests along the edge of the Hillsborough River basin Resources Overview Location: Zephyrhills Length: 4.6 miles Lat-Long: North trailhead: 28.259000,-82.114133 Lat-Long South trailhead: 28.223017,-82.146133 Type: Linear Fees / Permits: free permit required for [...]

Was De Leon Springs the Fountain of Youth? History relates that when he sailed to Florida in 1513, he “ascended a large river, passing through two small rivers and three lakes, whence we came to a great boiling spring which the Indians call ‘Healing Waters’.” The waters bubbling forth into Spring Garden Run have been [...]

Walk the landscape and discover the history that inspired Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling in 1938, on Pat’s Island in the Ocala National Forest. In the fall of 1876, Reuben and Sara Jane Long established a homestead on Pat’s Island, a high spot in the Big Scrub. Shaded by longleaf pine and [...]