Geologic Hikes

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 left to nature’s way. Resources Overview Location: Miami Length: 0.6 miles Lat-Long: 25.738433, -80.308917 Type: paved interconnecting trails Fees / [...]

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 tropical plants. Even though the natural arch of Arch Creek several decades ago, the limestone canyon is still worth a [...]

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 and deeply shaded hardwood forests, where sassafras peeks out from the undergrowth and southern magnolia rustles in the breeze. Although [...]

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 Area, with its picnic tables and popular fishing spots, the park offers access down below the high bluffs to some [...]

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 River of Grass of the Everglades, Castellow Hammock is a tropical forest now surrounded by the farming community of the [...]

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 habitats in a short hike. The high, well-drained sandy soils of the Lake Wales Ridge were prized by citrus growers, [...]

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 and see the tumbling cascades behind a screen of dense vegetation. But the ephemeral waterfalls that occur at Devil’s Millhopper [...]

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 Lake Jackson, Phipps Park provides recreation for all, with separate hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trail systems. Part of the [...]

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 [...]

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 the Otter Cave Trail to include the paved access to it, the natural trail is very short but very beautiful. [...]

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 the most intriguing parts of the Everglades: its rocky, pitted karst. Created by the steady erosion of the limestone bedrock, [...]

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 and scenic views, when the leaves are few, from the picnic area and campground to lower elevations. The highlight of [...]

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 overflows its banks. Starting at a pulloff just outside Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park and ending inside the [...]

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 the dogwoods put on a show. There are seepage slope bogs where pitcher plants look pretty as well. This is [...]

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 imagine, driving along SR 46A or SR 46 or SR 44 around the forest, actually existed on this grand a [...]

Try one of Florida’s toughest day hikes on for size: local legend has it this was the Garden of Eden, and from the lush forests and rare flora along this trek, they might be on to something. This is one hike that’s no walk in the park. In fact, I’d rate it the second most [...]

Resources Overview Location: Tampa Length: Up to 5.8 miles in a round-trip and two loops Lat-Lon: 28.1491, -82.2273 Type: Balloon Fees: Florida State Parks entrance fee Difficulty: Easy to Moderate Bug Factor: Moderate Restroom: Yes, near suspension bridge Watch for poison ivy along the trail. Directions Take I-75 to Tampa exit 265 (Fowler Avenue). Head [...]

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 and maintained by Florida Trail Association volunteers, the trail system includes the Central, East, and West Loops, all of which [...]

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 rock such as limestone, and it leads to the most unusual visual treats as water flows into, out of, and [...]

Although this rugged little nature trail at Mission San Luis doesn’t top a half mile, it gives you a good excuse to go play in the woods in suburban Tallahassee—and to learn about the depth of Florida’s history in the process. Dating back to 1656, Mission San Luis is truly one of Florida’s great archeological [...]

[set_id=72157623538587832 ] 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 pours out a very short spring run into the cypress-lined Santa Fe River. Poe Springs has been a [...]

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 2.5-mile loop through sandhills, sand pine scrub, and oak hammocks surrounding a giant sinkhole. This trail offers both diversity [...]

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 landscape means unusual plant communities as well, including some of the rarest species in the state in the ravines. You’ll [...]

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 floodplain. A new bridge over Sally Ward Spring Run provides access to the uplands along the far side of the [...]

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 forest. These rolling clayhills are topped with stately longleaf pine and wiregrass, with views that go on and on as [...]