The Florida State Forests system is managed by the Florida Division of Forestry and offers a special program for hikers – the Trailwalker Program.
With rare exceptions, Florida State Forest trails count towards Trailwalker status. Our state forests are certainly diverse, from the swampy Big Cypress habitats of Picayune State Forest near Naples to the rugged clay bluffs of Blackwater River State Forest near Pensacola. While most trails are multi-use, some are special gems that shouldn’t be missed.
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Learn more about the Trailwalker Program
Florida Trail, Chuluota Wilderness to Joshua Creek
With a surprising amount of habitat diversity, the northerly stretch of the Florida Trail newly built through Bronson State Forest and into adjacent Chuluota Wilderness Area is quite the delight. Hiking this section southbound gives the distinct feeling of going downhill, as habitats transition from the high, dry scrub – including a significant stretch of [...]
Florida Trail, Wheeler Road to Joshua Creek
Dancing along the rim of the St. Johns River floodplain, the Florida Trail through Seminole Ranch and the southern section of Bronson State Forest provides an unexpected array of botanical delights. Ancient oaks knit their limbs together to form grandly shaded hammocks. Towering cabbage palms rise like columns as far as the eye can see. [...]
Lower Wekiva Loop, Seminole State Forest
A lesser-known but beautiful loop trail within Seminole State Forest, the Lower Wekiva Loop provides a long day hike or overnight backpacking trip on its 8.8-mile route. Tracing the edge of both the Wekiva River and Blackwater Creek to where the waters merge, this loop never gets within sight of the waterways but lingers in [...]
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 imagine, driving along SR 46A or SR 46 or SR 44 around the forest, actually existed on this grand a [...]
Holly Hammock Hiking Trail
At the Ross Prairie Trailhead of the Cross Florida Greenway, there are two loop trails you can access – and this is the shorter of the two, taking you on a journey into the quiet woods of Ross Prairie State Forest, just south of the Greenway. The grasslands of Ross Prairie sprawl in arms and [...]
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 and maintained by Florida Trail Association volunteers, the trail system includes the Central, East, and West Loops, all of which [...]
High Bluff Coastal Trail
In Tate’s Hell State Forest, the High Bluff Coastal Trail along US 98 near Carrabelle leads you over relict dunes covered with scrub plants like Florida rosemary and scrub mint, partially shaded by a canopy of sand pines. Since this is a scrub habitat, expect some sand in your shoes. You’ll walk a linear trail [...]
Ralph G. Kendrick Dwarf Cypress Boardwalk
Why build a boardwalk in the middle of one of the most impassible swamps in Florida? Along the Gulf Coast near Carrabelle, Tate’s Hell is well-known for being a wild place. Its name is derived from the legend of a lost farmer who vanished for a week in the wilderness only to find his way [...]
Simmons State Forest
Sitting right on the state line southeast of Folkston, Georgia, the Ralph E. Simmons Memorial State Forest is certainly a place to get away from it all. The sluggish tannic waters of the St. Marys River form the state boundary, snaking around bends marked by sandy beaches. The dips and slopes where upland and riverine [...]
Pine Log State Forest
Mist rising off Sand Pond in morning—a must-see, making the cypress-lined lake ever so ghostly in the middle of Florida’s first state forest, Pine Log. From the Sand Pond trailhead, which starts near the campground, three hiking trails offer different looks at the diversity of this forest. A disconnected linear segment of the Florida Trail [...]
Picayune Strand State Forest – Sabal Palm Trail
Take a walk on the wet side—built by Boy Scouts, this slosh through swampland celebrates the preservation of a segment of the Big Cypress Swamp that was once a part of the biggest real estate scam in Florida. As befits a swamp, the trail is partially under water in all but the dry spring months, [...]
Oxbow Trail
A lesser-known part of Withlacoochee State Forest, the Oxbow Trail is on the northernmost tract of the forest along the Withlacoochee River, the trails and campsites all Eagle Scout projects. While the easy-to-follow big loop trail is a popular circuit for families and folks taking their dogs on a walk, the tougher-to-follow but more visually [...]
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 at the Bear Creek Educational Center south of Quincy, and is notable for clinging to the edges of a rather [...]
Johnson Pond Trail
One of my favorites for many years, the Johnson Pond Trail is Hike #3 in 50 Hikes in Central Florida. Although it combines elements of hikes I’m not fond of – shared use in a couple places, plus blazed forest roads used by vehicles – its beauty spots are such that it’s still worth visiting [...]
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 some of the biggest cypresses around. The trail is entirely in the shade of the floodplain forest – prone to [...]
Hillsborough River State Park
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 [...]
Goethe State Forest – Big Cypress Trail
Hidden in the depths of a floodplain forest in the heart of Goethe State Forest, the Big Cypress Trail is a short hike that leads to one of Florida’s most amazing botanical wonders. At the end of this ramble past large and larger trees, you follow a boardwalk to the base of a towering cypress [...]
Florida Trail, Little Big Econ
Surrounded by the sprawl of new homes now crowding Oviedo and Chuluota, a sprawl swallowing pastures and orange groves, a ribbon of wilderness remains. It is the Little-Big Econ State Forest, more than 5,000 acres of uplands and cypress swamps flanking the Econlockhatchee River, a true Central Florida treasure. Along its 1,400-mile route across the [...]
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 the dogwoods put on a show. There are seepage slope bogs where pitcher plants look pretty as well. This is [...]
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 hike describes the western segment of the Florida Trail between the two major trailheads of Etoniah Creek State Forest, the [...]
Florida Trail, Bronson State Forest
Part of the new corridor that the Florida Trail follows in its arc around the east side of the Orlando metro area. Bronson State Forest – a new addition to the Division of Forestry – now includes a segment of the Florida Trail that replaces the old roadwalk down Fort Christmas Road. Spanning from Orlando [...]
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 at a confluence where the Withlacoochee (not to be confused with the one in Central Florida) flows south from Georgia [...]
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 descents into sinkholes, and rock-strewn footpaths, and you’ve got yourself one of Florida’s most rugged hikes. Traversing extreme contrasts in [...]
Jackson Red Ground Trail
Connecting Karick Lake Recreation Area with the Red Rocks area of Blackwater River State Forest, the Jackson Red Ground Trail follows the path taken by General Andrew Jackson and his 1,200 troops in 1818 as they marched towards Pensacola from Apalachicola. Jackson had just received orders to be in charge of the “Indian Removal” from [...]
Cary Nature Trail
At Cary State Forest, you have the opportunity for a highly accessible, close-up look at carnivorous pitcher plants in the wild. While the 3,413-acre forest has dozens of miles of multi-use trails and is popular with local equestrians, the 1.4-mile Cary Nature Trail is hiking only, a great short walk for kids and persons of [...]
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, he noted massive mounds of snail shells piled up on its shorelines. These middens, prehistoric garbage heaps, spoke to civilizations [...]
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 forest. These rolling clayhills are topped with stately longleaf pine and wiregrass, with views that go on and on as [...]
Bear Lake Trail
At Blackwater River State Forest, each of the recreation areas offers access to hiking, and popular Bear Lake is no exception. A 4-mile trail loops around this impounded reservoir, which flows into Sweetwater Creek. The hike leads you through pine flatwoods and bluff forests, where Southern magnolia and hickory trees provide shade. It’s an excellent [...]
