Take note of Florida’s unique geology! We have the highest concentration of springs in the world, beaches and interior dunes, karst features like sinkholes and caves, waterways with waterfalls and rapids, and so much more. These hikes have interesting geologic features along them, from river bluffs to ravines.
A.D. Barnes Park - A tiny slice of native pine rocklands survives in a corner of this Miami city park, where paved nature trails provide access for all into a glimpse of what landscaped yards would look like if [...]
Alderman’s Ford Preserve - Part of an extensive corridor of natural lands – more than 10,000 acres worth east of Tampa – protecting the flow of the Alafia River, Alderman’s Ford Nature Preserve offers a surprising treat for a [...]
Angus Gholson Nature Park - Right on the Georgia border, the small riverside community of Chattahoochee hides a natural treasure in its deep ravines—a park named for a native son. On my first visit to the town, I hiked with [...]
Arch Creek Park - This tropical hammock was the site of a Tequesta Indian village between 500 B.C. and 1300 A.D. Gentle natural footpaths wind through the dark forest, where plant identifications add to your knowledge of South Florida’s [...]
Big Oak Trail - The Big Oak Trail is one of the most scenic hikes in North Florida and is part of the statewide Florida Trail. Much of the hiking parallels the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers, which meet here [...]
Big Shoals State Park – Big Shoals Trail - When you think about Florida’s rivers and streams, the image of raging, foaming water never springs to mind. Yet up on the Suwannee River, just a few miles outside the historic town of White Springs, [...]
Big Shoals State Park – Long Branch Trail - Starting at the canoe launch opposite the Big Shoals Trail, the Long Branch Trail heads upriver to follow a mellow Suwannee River—broad and shaded by overhanging tupelo trees. It’s a relaxed hike through scrubby flatwoods [...]
Big Talbot Island State Park – Blackrock Beach - A barrier island on the Atlantic Coast between Amelia Island and Little Talbot Island, Big Talbot Island is best known for its unusual rocky shoreline called Blackrock Beach. One step on this beach, overlooking a [...]
Big Talbot Island State Park – Bluffs Beach Walk - From the high bluffs at Big Talbot Island State Park, you can see forever—or at least to the horizon, the Atlantic Ocean shimmering in the sun. Within the main state park complex, the Bluffs Picnic [...]
Blackwater River State Forest – Wiregrass Trail - An excellent overnight backpacking trip which is also a segment of the Florida Trail, the Wiregrass Trail gets you into the heart of an ecosystem that has vanished across most of the Southeast—the longleaf pine [...]
Blowing Rocks Preserve - Stretching more than a mile along Jupiter Island, a tall limestone terrace dominates the meeting of sand and sea, the longest and most dramatic stretch of rocky shoreline in Florida. Preserved by local residents in [...]
Castellow Hammock Preserve - At Castellow Hammock, you’re stepping into Florida’s past as you follow the nature trail into a remnant of tropical forest. Part of the Dade Archipelago, a series of rocky islands that once protruded from the [...]
Crooked River Preserve - At the northernmost end of the Lake Wales Ridge, a significant landform that stretches from Minneola down towards Lake Okeechobee, creating the “spine” of the Florida peninsula, Crooked River Preserve showcases a wide variety of [...]
Crystal River Preserve State Park – Churchhouse Hammock - 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 [...]
Devil’s Millhopper State Park - On the northern edge of Gainesville, Devil’s Millhopper Geologic State Park showcases a geologic formation known to generations of visitors to the area. You’d think you were in the Amazon, or Hawaii, when you hear [...]
Econfina Nature Trail - Sluicing its way through high bluffs and low flatlands, Econfina Creek is one of Florida’s most beautiful and unsung waterways. The Florida Trail follows it for nearly 20 miles through Washington and Bay Counties. This [...]
Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park - Ancient magnolias, massive tulip poplars, and sinuous alluvial streams are all part of the delights of Phipps Park, the city of Tallahassee’s most expansive and wild urban park. With 670 acres along the shores of [...]
Enchanted Forest Sanctuary - It’s 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 [...]
Eureka Springs - 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 [...]
Everglades National Park – Gumbo Limbo Trail - At Royal Palm Hammock, home of the Anhinga Trail, the Gumbo Limbo Trail is a paved path that gets you up close and personal with a tropical hammock. This was once called Paradise Key, owned [...]
Everglades National Park – Otter Cave Hammock Trail - Complementing Shark Valley’s popular bike and tram trail and Bobcat Boardwalk, the Otter Cave Trail gets you out into the Everglades at a walking pace, where you’ll see much more wildlife. Although the park considers [...]
Everglades National Park – Pine Land - One of my favorite Everglades nature trails, Pine Land is a showcase for South Florida’s weird and wonderful karst, a limestone bedrock that’s full of Swiss-cheese like holes, crevices, pits, and tiny caves. Pine rocklands [...]
Everglades National Park – Pinelands Ecotone - Unnamed, un-blazed, and wild, following an old jeep road, the Pinelands Ecotone is an extraordinary hike along the ecotone between two rare habitats – pine rocklands and sawgrass prairies. It immerses you in one of [...]
Falling Creek Falls - See one of Florida’s fabulous but little known waterfalls on a short walk just north of Lake City. Take a quick detour from I-10 to see a spectacular root-beer-colored cascade, which plummets more than 10 [...]
Falling Waters State Park - Iconic as the home of Florida’s tallest waterfall, Falling Waters State Park is a showcase for Florida geology. The park sits atop a high ridge, offering steep slopes on its short but delightful trail system [...]
Florida Caverns State Park – Caverns Trail System - One of the best parts of Florida Caverns State Park is its Caverns Trail System, an interconnected group of nature trails that surround the big show cave. Most folks don’t step off that paved path [...]
Florida Trail, Bell Springs to Big Shoals - With Florida’s only Class III whitewater and the beauty of a Florida waterfall along a stretch of trail that is rugged but extremely scenic, this 2.8 mile section of the Florida Trail is a real [...]
Florida Trail, CR25A to Stephen Foster - This roly-poly section of the Florida Trail is pretty rugged despite its short distance, since it involves a lot of scrambling in and out of ravines and eroded bluffs created when the Suwannee River seasonally [...]
Florida Trail, Disappearing Creek Loop - Rapids between cypress knees? That’s what you’ll see when “surf’s up” along the Suwannee after a good rain. This region has spectacular geology thanks to its karst topography. Karst occurs when water and mild acid [...]
Florida Trail, Econfina Creek - Following the course of Econfina Creek, this protected segment of the Florida Trail provides a gorgeous weekend backpacking experience, particularly in springtime when the mountain laurel and azalea are in full fragrant bloom. The upper [...]
Florida Trail, Eglin East - This segment of the Florida Trail near Destin is on a swath of public land with a long and storied history. Established concurrently with the Ocala National Forest in 1908, the Choctawhatchee National Forest protected [...]
Florida Trail, Etoniah West - Protecting nearly 9,000 acres of between Palatka and Keystone Heights, Etoniah Creek State Forest is home to a segment of the Florida Trail where backpackers and day hikers alike can get out and explore. This [...]
Florida Trail, Gold Head Branch State Park - One of Florida’s oldest state parks, the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park opened in the 1930s, its facilities built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is one of the few state parks that [...]
Florida Trail, Hopkins Prairie to Juniper Springs - 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. [...]
Florida Trail, Juniper Creek - The Florida Trail along Juniper Creek (also known as the Juniper Creek Trail, Blackwater River State Forest) is a gorgeous place to explore in springtime, when mountain laurel blooms in both pink and white and [...]
Florida Trail, Lake Delancy to The 88 Store - An immersion in both sandhills and scrub awaits on a walk along the Florida Trail between Lake Delancy and Lake Kerr. Amid the tall longleaf pines of Riverside Island and the diminutive oaks of the [...]
Florida Trail, Land Bridge Trailhead to Santos - 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 [...]
Florida Trail, Pat’s Island to Hidden Pond - One of the most popular hikes on the Florida Trail is also one of the most interesting. Hidden Pond is an oasis in the middle of the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, a designated wilderness area in [...]
Florida Trail, Pruitt to Ross Prairie - 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 [...]
Florida Trail, Ross Prairie to SW 49th Ave - As a protected corridor south of Ocala, this section of the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway offers delights you just can’t imagine from the roads that bisect it—CR 484 and SW 49th Avenue. [...]
Florida Trail, Salt Springs to The 88 Store - 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 [...]
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 [...]
Fort Cooper State Park - Fort Cooper is a quiet place, a woodland on the shores of Lake Holathlikaha just south of Inverness, a place where families come to play and picnic and walk gentle trails where wildlife sightings are [...]
Garden of Eden Trail - This is one hike that’s no walk in the park. In fact, I’d rate it the second most difficult day hike in Florida, right after a day-long wade through Bradwell Bay on the Florida Trail. [...]
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 [...]
Gold Head Branch State Park – Ridge and Ravine Trails - The steephead ravine that forms Gold Head Branch is a riot of green: deep green needle palms, ferns of every shape and size, water trickling, merging, and flowing downstream, and the canopy of native trees [...]
Hidden Waters Preserve - 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— [...]
Hillsborough River State Park - One of the Tampa Bay area’s most beloved state parks, Hillsborough River State Park has always been a family favorite because of its rapids. Yes, rapids. Until I spent years researching Florida’s history and discovered [...]
Kelly Park – Kelly Loop Trail - Most folks come here for the tubing – the narrow, gushing channel down which Rock Springs Run pours is the best natural water park in Florida – but some of us appreciate the trails, too. [...]
Kelly Park – Oakhill and Prairie Lakes Trails - While most visitors come to Kelly Park for the swimming and tubing – Rock Springs Run is the southernmost tubing run in Florida, and one of the most beautiful natural water parks in the state [...]
Lake Eaton Sinkhole Trail - In the heart of the Big Scrub of the Ocala National Forest, the Lake Eaton Sinkhole is a relatively young phenomenon compared to the other large sinkhole in the region, Devil’s Millhopper. It punctured the [...]
Lake Jackson Mounds State Park – Butler Mill Trail - Lake Jackson Mounds is best known for being one of the largest ceremonial temple mound complexes in the Southeast, but it offers a cool, shady nature trail, too. There are six earthen temple mounds, the [...]
Lake Talquin State Forest – Fort Braden Trails - Showcasing bluff forests and deep ravines above Lake Talquin – a dammed reservoir in the Ocklochnee River west of Tallahassee – the Fort Braden Trails offer enough hiking for a weekend in the woods. Built [...]
Lake Talquin State Forest – Ravine Trail - If you think Florida doesn’t have steep trails, this one will dispel the myth. To the west of Tallahassee, The Ravine Trail at Lake Talquin State Forest is part of the Terry Rhodes Trail System [...]
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 [...]
Matheson Hammock Park – Hammock Trail - One of the wilder places showcasing a remaining piece of the grand hammock that once stretched from Miami down along Biscayne Bay, Matheson Hammock Park is a popular swimming and picnic destination along the bay. [...]
Mission San Luis – Julia Munroe Woodward Nature Trail - Dating back to 1656, Mission San Luis is truly one of Florida’s great archeological treasures. It’s the only restored Spanish mission site of a string of missions that once stretched from St. Augustine to Pensacola, [...]
Oscar Scherer State Park – Lake Osprey Trail - Circling one of Oscar Scherer State Park’s notable water features, Lake Osprey, the wheelchair-accessible Lake Osprey Trail – the park’s newest trail, opened in 2010 – offers a natural surface exploration of the uplands surrounding [...]
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park – La Chua Trail - There are a handful of places that stand out as excellent locations for wildlife watching in Florida – Circle B Bar, the Anhinga Trail, Shark Valley, Green Cay Wetlands, Orlando Wetlands Park – but the [...]
Poe Springs Park - With a nature trail showcasing Florida’s weird karst geology and a cypress swamp along the Santa Fe River near High Springs, Poe Springs Park provides a glimpse into Florida’s fossilized past. A second-magnitude spring, Poe [...]
Ravine Gardens State Park - Built in 1934 by CCC workers with 250,000 ornamental plants and 95,000 azaleas, Ravine Gardens was named the “Nation’s Outstanding Citizen Works Administration Project” when it opened. In 1970, it became a state park. A [...]
Ross Prairie Loop - Starting at the Ross Prairie Trailhead, the 3.5-mile Ross Prairie Loop offers an overview of Ross Prairie, a sprawling complex of grasslands and ponds nearly three miles long. Edged by sand pine scrub, longleaf pine [...]
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park – Moonshine Creek Trails - Throughout Gainesville, creeks vanish into the ground, becoming part of the Floridan Aquifer. Along the two short but rugged trails that comprise this loop – the Moonshine Creek Trail and the Creek Sink Trail – [...]
Silver River State Park – Sinkhole Trail - Take a hike around a giant sinkhole and explore the uplands above the Silver River at Silver River State Park. Near the environmental education center and Pioneer Village, start at the Sinkhole Trail archway for this [...]
Sweetwater Preserve - Two different faces, two different spaces: the 125-acre Sweetwater Preserve, acquired in 2006, is a unique natural land in the city of Gainesville. It provides a buffer and wildlife corridor on the northern rim of [...]
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park - A sweep of fragile dunes along a shore that’s vanished, over time, under the rush of development: Topsail Hill State Park is a very special place. Protecting more than 3 miles of oceanfront on the [...]
Torreya State Park – Torreya Hiking Trail - One of the most rugged hikes in Florida, the Torreya Hiking Trail treats you to an billowing landscape of bluffs and ravines, rising to 300 feet above the Apalachicola River at Logan’s Bluff. The unusual [...]
UWF Dunes Preserve - If you’ve ever wanted to scramble up and down Florida dunes, here’s your chance! This part of Santa Rosa Island is a coastal desert that the Florida Trail weaves up and over. The Florida Trail [...]
Wakulla Springs State Park - Created by volunteers from the Friends of Wakulla Springs, the new Wakulla Springs Trail provides up to 10 miles of hiking in a round-trip and loop that showcases the variety of habitats along the river’s [...]
Wakulla Springs State Park – Cherokee Sink Trail - A karst window into the watery world of the Woodville Karst Plain, Cherokee Sink is a large, deep water-filled sinkhole in a less-traveled section of Wakulla Springs State Park. More than 250 wide at its [...]
Wekiwa Springs Hiking Trail - More than a million people live within twenty miles of Wekiwa Springs State Park, where Orlando’s suburban sprawl encroaches from several directions. It’s one of Florida’s most busy and popular state parks, with Wekiwa Springs [...]
Wekiwa Springs State Park – Wet to Dry Trail - While the Wet to Dry Nature Trail at Wekiwa Springs State Park is the shortest of all of the park’s hiking trails, it’s also the busiest. Starting near the outflow of Wekiwa Springs as it [...]
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park - Preserving more than 30 acres of tropical hammock north of Islamorada – saved from condo development in the 1980s, with support from local residents – Windley Key Fossil Reef is a very unique place. In [...]
Withlacoochee State Forest – Citrus Hiking Trail - 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 [...]
Withlacoochee State Forest – Hog Island Nature Trail - 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 [...]
Yearling Trail - 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 turkey oak, they grew sugar cane and [...]
