A favorite destination for my family for decades, Jupiter is the northernmost outpost of Palm Beach County – which means easy access to natural lands along the Intracoastal Waterway, Atlantic Coastal Ridge, and the North Everglades Natural Area (NENA for short), where you’ll find the vast Ocean-to-Lake Greenway. It is the best area for backpacking in Southeast Florida.
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 [...]![Florida Trail, Corbett [view slides]](http://www.floridahikes.com/wp-content/uploads/ftcorbett-121x91.jpg)
Florida Trail, Ocean to Lake: Corbett WMA - Seen on your GPS or a satellite photo, Corbett WMA appears to be wetlands, wetlands, and more wetlands. But this popular wildlife management area west of West Palm Beach is a place of superlatives: vast [...]
Florida Trail, Ocean to Lake: DuPuis Reserve - Anchoring the western end of the Ocean-to-Lake section of the Florida Trail, DuPuis Reserve is accessed “the back way” by backpackers via the NENA (North Everglades Natural Area) Trailhead along US 441 between Port Mayaca [...]
Florida Trail, Ocean to Lake: DuPuis to Corbett - Deep in the heart of the Ocean-to-Lake Greenway, this 9.7 mile segment of the Florida Trail bridging DuPuis Reserve and Corbett WMA is one of the most wild and scenic treks in southeastern Florida. It’s [...]
Florida Trail, Port Mayaca to Henry Creek - One of the segments of the Florida Trail that are paved around Lake Okeechobee, the 13.7-mile walk between Port Mayaca and Henry Creek offers unparalleled vistas of both open water and the marshes of Chauncey [...]
Grassy Waters Preserve - Protecting a sheet flow of rainfall moving steadily southward and parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, Grassy Waters Preserve bears a striking resemblance to the Florida Everglades. It’s hard to imagine now, with the crush of [...]
Jonathan Dickinson State Park – East Loop Trail - For backpackers headed to the urban southeastern part of the Florida, Jonathan Dickinson State Park provides more than 11,000 acres to roam on a series of three trails maintained by the Florida Trail Association. Although [...]
Jonathan Dickinson State Park – Hobe Mountain Trail - 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 [...]
Jonathan Dickinson State Park – Kitching Creek Loop - Brilliant pink orchids. The clatter of sandhill cranes. Ferns rising from depression marshes. Cabbage palms shading your campsite. These are reasons to head into the woods on the second of two stacked loops for long [...]
Juno Dunes Natural Area - Diversity is the name of the game along the trail at Juno Dunes, where you’ll find not just coastal scrub atop the Atlantic Coastal Ridge but an interesting mosaic of wetlands among the swale between [...]
Limestone Creek Natural Area - With a grand stand of healthy pine flatwoods providing a gateway to 53 acres of protected land hemmed in by residential and commercial development in Jupiter, Limestone Creek Natural Area is a green gem in [...]
Riverbend Park - Riverbend Park has been more than a decade in the making. It’s been more than a decade since Riverbend Park was first established, and now that it’s open, the 680 acre preserve is an ideal [...]
Seabranch Preserve State Park - Seabranch Preserve State Park encompasses nearly 1,000 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway south of Stuart, and protects several critical habitats in an area overrun with coastal development. In addition to supporting populations of Florida scrub-jays [...]
