Set along the St. Johns River, Deland is surrounded by natural lands that protect the vast floodplain forests surrounding Florida’s longest river. Along this western edge of Volusia County are a nice variety of hikes and backpacking trips to keep you busy for days.
Black Bear Wilderness Area - One of Seminole County’s newest natural lands, the Black Bear Wilderness Area offers some of the best birding and wildlife watching in the region. True to its name, it was a place to find bear [...]
Blue Spring State Park - If you’ve never seen manatees by the dozens, let alone a hundred or more, there’s no better place in Florida to watch these gentle giants drift past than near Deland along the boardwalk at Blue [...]
Blue Spring State Park – Pine Island Trail - Starting near the exit of the lower parking area, the Pine Island Trail at Blue Spring State Park is lesser-known and lesser-used than its popular counterpart, the Blue Spring Trail(and boardwalk) along Blue Spring Run. [...]
DeLeon Springs State Park – Wild Persimmon Trail - 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 [...]
Florida Trail, Alexander Springs to Farles Lake - 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 [...]
Florida Trail, Clearwater Lake to Alexander Springs - The oldest section of the Florida Trail is one of the prettiest, as well. First blazed in the Ocala National Forest in 1966 by a hardy crew of trail maintainers led by Jim Kern, the [...]
Florida Trail, Seminole State Forest - One of the older sections of the Florida Trail near Orlando is also one of its finest. A hike through Seminole State Forest leads you through the kind of vast, open spaces that you’d never [...]
Gemini Springs Park - More than 150 years ago, this forest along the marshes of the St. Johns River was cleared for farming, becoming the Padgett homestead on outskirts of busy Enterprise. It later operated as a cattle ranch [...]
Green Spring Park - 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 Spring Park, the trails are short but well-groomed, with options [...]
Hontoon Island State Park – Indian Mound Nature Trail - There are many public lands on islands in Florida, but Hontoon Island State Park is one of the few surrounded by fresh water and accessible via a free ferryboat. For more than three thousand years, [...]
Lake Ashby Park - At this small rural park, explore the cypress-lined shore of Lake Ashby on a gentle trail system consisting of a boardwalk and easy pathways beneath deep shade along the lakeshore. An excellent spot for birding, [...]
Lake George State Forest – Bluffton Nature Trail - 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, [...]
Lake Monroe Conservation Area – Kratzert Tract - 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 [...]
Lake Woodruff NWR - Wide open spaces for wintering waterfowl: that’s the primary purpose of Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, with 21,500 acres snuggled against Spring Garden Run (the outflow from De Leon Springs) and the St. Johns River. [...]
Lyonia Preserve - The Florida scrub-jay, one of Florida’s most colorful native birds, is the star of the show at Lyonia Preserve in Deltona, a precious slice of ancient scrub habitat remaining on a high ridge now otherwise [...]
Ocala National Forest – Clearwater Lake Loop - Most hikers headed for Clearwater Lake in the Ocala National Forest are looking for the Florida Trail, which starts its northbound journey of 70 unbroken miles just north of SR 42 in Paisley. But the [...]
Ocala National Forest – Timucuan Trail - In less than a mile, you experience all of the major habitats of the Ocala National Forest—and can cool off with a swim. Noted for its clarity, Alexander Springs gushes out of a subterranean crevice [...]
Rock Springs Run State Reserve - Protecting more than 14,000 acres along the Wekiva River basin, Rock Springs Run State Reserve is well known for its Florida black bear population. While the trail system here was established more than a decade [...]
St. Francis Trail - It’s hard to believe, as you walk under bowers of live oaks and cabbage palms, that a town once crowded the wharf where the St. Johns River turns away from the St. Francis Dead River, [...]
