Articles

  • Three bears at Black Bear Wilderness Bear encounter at Black Bear Wilderness - Last fall, I was in the thick of research for Five Star Trails Orlando when I discovered that Black Bear Wilderness Area in Sanford had, and continued to be, closed to the public while construction [...]
  • Peeking out from the Land Bridge Bridge to the Future: The Marjorie Harris Carr Cross-Florida Greenway - As we walk the mile and a quarter along the Florida Trail through deep woods to the west of Belleview, the low-hanging clouds that threatened the morning with rain now part. Emerging from the forest, [...]
  • Navigator & JK at Lower Wekiva Couples and backpacking - Prepping for an overnight trip for Valentine’s Day – and a longer backpacking trip next week – brought up many differences between planning trips for solo backpacking and backpacking as a couple. As most of [...]
  • Barge canal diggings near I-75, 2006 Cross Florida Greenway – Finding a Route - After several years of working on trail crews in Western Pennsylvania, I returned home to Florida in 1999 looking to find an organization similar to the Keystone Trails Association, which coordinated volunteer efforts on hiking [...]
  • View from west side, Spring 2000 Cross Florida Greenway -The Land Bridge - It’s been an iconic landmark along Interstate 75 for more than a decade. Built in 1999-2000, the Cross Florida Greenway Land Bridge was the first true land bridge in the United States, modeled after a [...]
  • Indian Key Hiking the Tropics: The Wild Side of the Florida Keys - Deep in a tropical jungle, Ranger Joseph Nemec points out some of the weirdest plants I’ve ever laid eyes on. “This is a whisk fern,” he says, gesturing to a spindly green slip of a [...]
  • Scrub-jay at Lyonia Preserve In Search of the Scrub-Jay - It is barely daybreak when Joan Jarvis and I reach the trailhead at Lyonia Preserve. Hues of tangerine and toast seep into the morning sky as we head up the sand path into the 400 [...]
  • At Shark Valley Matching Florida books to outdoor adventures - Have you ever matched a book to an outdoor adventure? Well, now’s the time to try it out. A special focus on the outdoors is part of this year’s summer reading program “Just Read, Families!” [...]
  • At the Big Cypress Measuring Up: The Big Cypress of Rice Creek Swamp - Developed as a rice and indigo plantation by British loyalists in the 1780s, Rice Creek Swamp is an nteresting mix of old-growth forest and human intervention in the form of obvious dikes and canals built [...]
  • Florida Trail, Pahokee to Port Mayaca Oh, Okeechobee! - Put one foot in front of the other. Walk nine days. Cover more than 110 miles. Circle the second largest freshwater lake entirely inside the United States. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? If so, you’re ready [...]
  • White-topped pitcher plant at Yellow River Marsh Pitcher plants in Santa Rosa County - It’s pitcher plant season in Northwest Florida, which means I wish we were still there. Less than two weeks ago, while we were on the Panhandle Trace Hike, I was on a mission to point [...]
  • Beach hike at House of Refuge, Stuart Summer Hiking - Summer hiking in Florida? Surely you jest, say most folks who wilt when they step out into 90*F heat. Never mind the mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, and afternoon thunderstorms like clockwork. Still, there are many of [...]
  • Backpackers at Bradwell Bay Swamp Stomp: A Journey into the Bradwell Bay Wilderness - “Where’s the blaze?” I look up as the hiker in back of me splashes forward. This is one of those rare sections of the Florida Trail where you have to keep looking down at your [...]
  • Lake Okeechobee at Henry Creek The Big O: Going the Distance - What do Ontario residents Leona Belcher and Don Galbraith, California resident Connie Harris, and Maryland resident Rosalind Suit have in common? Every year for the past six years, they’ve made the long drive to Florida [...]
  • Coral snake (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Venomous snakes - Florida has four species of venomous snakes: Cottonmouth (also called water moccasin), an aggressive snake that prefers swampy areas. Rattlesnake (diamondback, timber, and pygmy), which can be found in upland or swampy areas. Southern copperhead, [...]