Florida State Parks

In addition to having one of the best beaches in Florida, Bahia Honda State Park is blessed with a profusion of rare and unique tropical vegetation. Along the park’s Silver Palm Trail, you’ll meander through the largest grove of silver palms (Coccothrinax argentata) in the United States, just yards away from the strumming waves. Resources [...]

To the east of Naples, the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk at Fakahatchee Preserve State Park offers a peek into one tiny corner of the Fakahatchee Strand, but it’s significant in two ways – it’s the most accessible and therefore most highly visited corner of the preserve, and it’s a notable natural landmark, a stand of [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

THIS TRAIL IS CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION OF A MULTIUSE TRAIL BISECTING IT. SIGNS SAY IT WILL REOPEN IN JULY 2012 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, [...]

Jones Cut provides a meander into the heart of the maritime forest that carpets Big Talbot Island, but it’s not the easiest trail to find. It lets you explore the heart of a dense maritime forest which was once home to the Timucua. The trail follows a broad old forest road through a mature forest [...]

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 Spring State Park, paralleling the length of Blue Spring Run to the St. Johns River. This short, easy trail offers [...]

Protecting a windswept shoreline and a variety of habitats on a barrier island off the historic coastal community of Dunedin, Caladesi Island State Park is undoubtedly one of the gems of the Florida State Parks system. It’s been named the top beach in the United States, thanks to its quiet and remote location, the view [...]

To spend a day or a weekend on your own deserted island…heaven. Cayo Costa State Park is one of the tougher and costlier state parks to get to, but well worth it. Solitude is guaranteed. The trail system meanders through the location of an old village and takes side trips out to the shoreline; you [...]

Showcasing the interface of freshwater and saltwater habitats along Charlotte Harbor, Alligator Creek Preserve in Punta Gorda is an outreach center and living laboratory of the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center at Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park. Here, the stir of a salt breeze riffles across cypress domes close to the sea. Resources Overview Location: Punta [...]

Created by the Florida Trail Association, the Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail is one of South Florida’s most beautiful trails, but it’s not for the inexperienced hiker. Wilderness savvy is in order, as you’ll be wading the better part of 6 miles to experience a watery forest like none other – the Big Cypress Swamp. This loop [...]

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 staircase to access the natural portion of the trail (called “Pathway to the Past”) that meanders through a bottomland hardwood [...]

Walk a gentle loop through the longleaf pine forest that saw one of the bloodiest moments in Florida history. On December 28, 1835, Seminole warriors who opposed the federal government’s attempt to remove them from Florida waited in ambush for U.S. Army soldiers marching down the Fort King Military Road. The Seminoles’ initial attack killed [...]

At the northernmost end of Naples, the breezy shores of Delnor-Wiggins State Park entice thousands of beachgoers on summer days – especially on weekends. On weekdays and early mornings and evenings, people who like a stroll on the beach have it all to themselves. One of the best places along this coast to find massive [...]

For a ramble through a preserved Florida pioneer homestead, visit Dudley Farm Historic Site State Park, where rangers in period costume take you through a day in the life of a turn-of-the-20th-century Florida farmer. The museum at the visitors’ center interprets the several generations of family who lived here, and how farming changed over the [...]

Best known for its antebellum mansion with one of the most extensive Louis XVI furniture collections in America, Eden Gardens State Park has its wild side, too. The Tucker Bayou Trail, recently relocated, starts and ends at the new Tucker Bayou picnic area down a side road off the new park entrance. This short, mazy [...]

One of the tougher places to hike in Southwest Florida, Estero Scrub Preserve State Park, established in 1966 as Florida’s first aquatic preserve, has several loops through wet flatwoods and tidal marshes along the rim of Estero Bay. Much of the hike is in full sun, and portions can be very deep in water, no [...]

Most people come to see the stalactites and stalagmites at Florida’s only show cave. But the hiking’s even weirder at Florida Caverns State Park. 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 [...]

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 the Florida Trail traverses, and a pleasant place to camp thanks to its many camping options. You can rent a [...]

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 almost guaranteed. But the reason for this state park isn’t as blissful. During the Second Seminole War, a battalion of [...]

Hugging the shoreline of Rocky Bayou, an important aquatic preserve, Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park near Niceville has one of the prettiest campgrounds in the Florida State Park system – well air-conditioned by a cross-flow of breezes between the bayou and Puddin’ Head Lake – and one of the most picturesque trail systems. The [...]

Along the South Walton coast, Grayton Beach State Park preserves special treasures—not just a waterfront with emerald waves and sparkling sand, but a rare coastal dune lake with freshwater mere feet from the sea. The trail system introduces you to a coastal dune lake and its surrounding habitats. Start with the Barrier Dunes Nature Trail, [...]

Encompassing a virtual jungle of ancient oak hammocks and floodplain forests to the west of Lake Jackson, Highlands Hammock State Park is Sebring’s crown jewel and a Florida State Park that you won’t want to miss. Nine nature trails ramble through a variety of habitats, but the core of the park – massive oaks and [...]

Teeter-tottering above a swamp isn’t an ideal situation for some people, but adventuresome hikers who want to have a little fun on a nature trail need to experience this stretch of old-time catwalk through the cypress swamp at Highlands Hammock State Park. The approach boardwalk is broad and wheelchair-accessible, leading back to an observation platform [...]

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, the Timucua lived on this deeply forested island, sharing the lush palm hammocks and pine flatwoods with deer, otters, and [...]

Running down the middle of this popular urban park, the Exotic Trail traces a path through the exotic gardens of the former estate of Hugh Taylor Birch, Terramar. These tropical plants aren’t invasive, and they’re nicely identified along the first half of the circuit. There are more than 200 species on display. The Exotic Trail [...]

Before you ever head out to the beach at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park, a quick stroll down the Satinleaf Trail will get you oriented to the tropical habitats that this park protects on Singer Island. This easy interpretive nature trail starts near the playground in the first parking area for beach parking, not [...]

While John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is known for its offshore delights, its onshore amenities are not as well known. Two nature trails provide places to explore as you wait for a guided trip or relax after setting up your tent at the campground. The Wild Tamarind Trail starts and ends nearest the campground, [...]

Catch a sweeping view from an observation tower atop the highest natural hill south of Lake Okeechobee, a vantage point that lets you survey a broad swath of landscape from the Atlantic Ocean to the wet flatwoods that march off to the west of the Loxahatchee River. This short boardwalk trail is one of the [...]

Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park is truly a botanical treasure, with the highest concentration of champion trees in one place in the United States—and none are over 45 feet tall. Current and prior national champions include crabwood (Ateramnus lucidus), Bahama strongback (Bourreria ovata), spicewood (Calyptranthes pallens), wild cinnamon (Canella winterana), milk-bark (Drypetes diversifolia), Guiana [...]

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park protects a remnant of what was once the great Indian Prairie stretching to Lake Okeechobee, a mosaic of wet and dry grasslands where wildflowers flourish Look into the grasses to see the colorful blooms of meadow beauty, blazing star, and wild bachelor’s button. Walk the nature trails, ride the forest [...]

Protecting 845 acres of the whitest, brightest sand on the Lake Wales Ridge, this passive preserve has one of the highest concentrations of rare and endemic plants in North America. A pristine snapshot of Florida’s scrub, the land is an ancient sand dune. A short nature trail follows Tomoka Run, a fern lined waterway {crosslink}, [...]

Comprised of wet prairies, pine flatwoods, oak hammocks, and scrub, Buster Island in Lake Kissimmee State Park is indeed an island, surrounded by three lakes and waterways that flow into them. The trail loops through a succession of varied habitats along the Lake Wales Ridge, making this a particularly interesting hike. The beauty of Buster [...]

In the rolling hills of the Lake Wales Ridge south of Clermont, Lake Louisa is the southernmost lake in the Palatlakaha River chain of lakes, its waters flowing northward to feed Lake Susan, Lake Minehaha, and Lake Minneola. Extending between the park entrance and the recreation area along Lake Louisa, the hiking trails showcase the [...]

At Letchworth Mounds you can walk around the base of the tallest and most complex ceremonial mound in Florida. There are four mounds in the complex, with the tallest 46 feet high. The mounds are from the Woodland Period circa A.D. 500. The site was first mentioned in 1939 in the article “Spanish Mission Sites [...]

A barrier island on the Atlantic Coast at the mouth of the St. Johns River, Little Talbot Island attracts a steady stream of beachgoers from nearby Jacksonville. But if your idea of a day at the beach isn’t just to lie around, the park has two trails – one long, one short – to introduce [...]

The quiet, lesser-known side of Long Key State Park is the bay side of Long Key, a mostly-undisturbed and undeveloped fringe of mangroves and tropical hammocks along Florida Bay. The Layton Trail leads you on a quarter-mile exploration of these habitats, emerging at a showy spot on Florida Bay. Resources Overview Location: Long Key Length: [...]

As one of several “Sandhills Trails” throughout Florida, the Sandhills Nature Trail at Lower Wekiva Preserve State Park lives up to its name. It’s a 2.2-mile loop through longleaf pine and wiregrass, an ecosystem that once covered the uplands of Central Florida. While the scrub along the Wekiva River basin attempts to seep into the [...]

At the confluence of the Ochlockonee River and the marshes fed by the Sopchoppy River, Ochlockonee River State Park is tucked behind a corner of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge just south of Sopchoppy as you head towards Lanark Village. A popular camping spot thanks to easy access to the water for anglers and paddlers, it’s [...]

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 the artesian-spring-fed waters. Birding is excellent, especially in the early morning hours. The many benches along this path make it [...]

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 place to see alligators is in the home of the Gators, Gainesville. Paynes Prairie is a massive landform in North [...]

Within the city limits of Jacksonville yet certifiably wild, this Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve is a high dry wilderness on bluffs above the Nassau River. Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park protects more than 4,000 acres along the Nassau River, encompassing tall bluffs, scrub, and salt marshes. I’ve hiked out to the bluffs (where you’ll [...]

Hike the trails at Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka, a botanical garden with a touch of Civilian Conservation Corps history and some very rugged hiking trails. 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 [...]

Significant as the site of the first coastal fortress in Northwest Florida, San Marcos de Apalache protects several generations of battlements at the confluence of the St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers. There are faint tracings of the original wooden stockade fort completed by the Spanish in 1679 at the confluence of the St. Marks and [...]

Silver River State Park has plenty of hiking, and these two trails are probably the most popular of the bunch. Walk under the “River Trails” arch to start your adventure into the cypress swamps and floodplain forests of the Silver River basin along two very different trails. The Swamp Trail offers a round-trip and loop [...]

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 [...]

[set_id= 72157624781421114] With a replica of a turpentine distillery at the beginning of this Panama City Beach hike, this is a walk to get you acquainted with one of the more important historic uses of Florida’s barrier islands—naval stores. Products of the coastal pine forests were of paramount importance to early military efforts, when ships [...]

Tall slash pines dominate the windswept remnant of coastal scrub forest that St. George Island State Park protects at the easternmost tip of this barrier island dividing the mouth of the Apalachicola River from the Gulf of Mexico. Starting from the campground area, the 5-mile round trip Gap Point Trail offers an opportunity to backpack [...]

For a sampling of the fragile coastal habitats protected along St. Joseph Bay by St Joseph Peninsula State Park, take a short walk on this spectacularly scenic coastal trail. You’ll meander through a diminutive scrub forest where the delicate Florida rosemary, myrtle oak, and Chapman oak are gnarled and wizened like bonsai thanks to the [...]

Explore river bottom forest around the St. Marks River at one of the most recent acquisitions by Florida State Parks. St. Marks River State Park protects 2,589 acres southeast of Tallahassee, straddling the Jefferson and Leon county line. It encompasses old trade routes that were used in the first exploration and settlement of the region [...]

Defined by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers creating the Apalachicola River, Three Rivers State Park includes Lake Seminole, a top-notch bass fishing destination, as well as a large lakeside campground with a wheelchair-accessible rental cabin, picnic pavilions, two hiking trails, and canoe rentals. Resources   Overview Location: Sneads Length: Up to 2.5 [...]

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 [...]

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 a great boiling spring which the Indians call ‘Healing Waters’.” The waters bubbling forth into Spring Garden Run have been [...]

Resources Immediately north of Garcon Point Preserve, Garcon Point Rd (CR 191) is a delight to drive in early April. Pitcher plants bloom roadside, edging the ditches in astounding quantity as you draw closer to Blackwater Bay and Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park. Overview Location: Bagdad Length: unknown—no marked trails Lat-Long: 30.484300, -87.071500 Type: [...]