Explore the edge of the Green Swamp along a set of easy trails just north of Lakeland .

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 scrub, a recharge area for the Floridan Aquifer covering over 860 square miles to the north of Lakeland.

At the trailhead parking area, there is a kiosk with maps you can take with you, a picnic shelter, and portable toilet. Passing a picnic bench, follow the paved path – the Cypress Loop – into the woods. This wheelchair accessible ribbon of asphalt is 0.6 mile long and winds through the pine flatwoods to pass a cypress dome. Along the loop, it reaches a large interpretive kiosk with information about the Green Swamp, and the option to follow the unpaved Piney Wood Trail, the original trail in the park. Turn here and follow the trail markers on a narrow gravel connector between the two trails.