Just recently went out west and hiked a with a few friends and loved it. My girlfriend and myself would really like to start hiking on a regular basis. However we have no real experience or knowledge of the top trails in Florida. Just wondering if anybody has a top 10 to 20 list that might be a good start for us. We live in Saint Petersburg, but dont mind driving for a good experience. We are in very good shape and love to push ourselves. All suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

New to hiking in Florida I found geocaching.com. I found lots of preserves with great hiking and a reason to make the trek (other than the obvious). Many can easily offer 15+ miles. A GPS ensures that you can find the car afterwords as many Preserves don't have well marked trails and maps. Not sure if I can give you an amazing list, but here are some that come to mind, diamonds in the rough, no particular order...

1. My current love and most tightly held secret is Gilley Creek preserve (Parish)(horses, cattle, deer, bulls) I love this place. Rough and limited shade. Easy 20+miles
2. Alderman Ford County Park (Lithia) Hills!
3. The Hillsborough River Area has great hiking, lots of areas
4. Mayaka River if you haven't already checked it out. The Florida Trail crosses through it.
5. Balm Boyette Scrub
6. Golden Aster Preserve
7. Little Manatee River State park has a 6 mile
8. Withlacoochee State Forest- a little further.

Thanks for the advice. We are going to try all of these. I will respond with updates as we complete these trails and express our experience. Thanks again!!!!!