The Apalachicola, Osceola, and Ocala National Forests provide hikers with vast landscapes to roam. It was in the Ocala National Forest that the Florida Trail got its start in 1966, and today it remains one of the favored destinations for backpackers, a 72-mile stretch of immersion in pine forests and the Big Scrub. There are many shorter trails to explore, too.
The Osceola National Forest is the smallest of the three, with nature trails and a 20-mile segment of the Florida Trail. Some of the most remote wilderness hiking in Florida is in the Apalachicola National Forest.
Apalachicola National Forest – Camel Lake Loop - Circle a cypress lined pond in the Apalachicola National Forest on the Camel Lake Loop. It’s a short hike on high ground in a place where most habitats are downright swampy. Despite the name of [...]
Apalachicola National Forest – Fort Gadsden - On an early morning in the fog off the river, you can almost feel the ghosts slipping between the trees, sunlight dappling through the moist needles of longleaf pine and the air thick with the [...]
Apalachicola National Forest – Wright Lake Trail - This well-kept loop along the western edge of the Apalachicola National Forest was a real surprise to me. I expected pine plantations (and there were many), but did not expect the diversity of longleaf pine [...]
Davenport Landing Trail - The most obscure interpretive trail in the Ocala National Forest is well off the beaten path along the Ocklawaha River, accessed via a narrow dirt road. Why here? Location, location, location—in the 1800s, Florida’s rivers [...]
Florida Trail, Alexander Springs to Farles Lake - Get acquainted with Big Scrub on this 8.4-mile stretch of the Florida Trail in the Ocala National Forest as it rises through longleaf pine forests to meet the world’s largest sand pine scrub, punctuated by [...]
Florida Trail, Bradwell Bay - You’re guaranteed to get wet on Florida’s roughest, wildest swamp walk on the Florida Trail in Bradwell Bay, a wild place where hiking with friends is a smart idea. Situated south of Tallahassee, the Bradwell [...]
Florida Trail, Buckman Lock to Rodman Dam - Paralleling a segment of the failed Cross Florida Barge Canal, this mostly linear section of the Florida Trail sticks to a high berm created when the canal was dug. Nicely shaded for much of its [...]
Florida Trail, Clearwater Lake to Alexander Springs - The oldest section of the Florida Trail is one of the prettiest, as well. First blazed in the Ocala National Forest in 1966 by a hardy crew of trail maintainers led by Jim Kern, the [...]
Florida Trail, Hopkins Prairie to Juniper Springs - Long referred to as the “jewel of the Florida Trail,” Juniper Prairie Wilderness in the Ocala National Forest is a complex mosaic of ancient scrub forests, pine islands, and broad, open prairies where wildlife thrives. [...]
Florida Trail, Hopkins Prairie to Salt Springs - While the Ocala National Forest is best known for having the largest expanse of scrub forest in the world, a lesser known facet of the forest – unless you hike the Florida Trail – are [...]
Florida Trail, Juniper Springs to Farles Lake - For a real blast, hike south on the Florida Trail from Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest. Back in the 1940s, Jimmy Doolittle and his squadron trained here for their bombing runs on Japan; [...]
Florida Trail, Lake Delancy to The 88 Store - An immersion in both sandhills and scrub awaits on a walk along the Florida Trail between Lake Delancy and Lake Kerr. Amid the tall longleaf pines of Riverside Island and the diminutive oaks of the [...]
Florida Trail, Nice Wander Loop - In the Osceola National Forest, this short loop adjacent to Olustee Battlefield is one of the easiest places in the state to see red-cockaded woodpeckers. It’s part of the statewide Florida Trail, and provides a [...]
Florida Trail, Pat’s Island to Hidden Pond - One of the most popular hikes on the Florida Trail is also one of the most interesting. Hidden Pond is an oasis in the middle of the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, a designated wilderness area in [...]
Florida Trail, Rodman to Lake Delancy - One of the most awe-inspiring sections of the Florida Trail, the segment between the Rodman Dam (more properly known as the George Kirkpatrick Dam) and Lake Delancy immerses you into longleaf pine forests that seem [...]
Florida Trail, Salt Springs to The 88 Store - Amid a patchwork of scrub ridges and longleaf pine islands, the Florida Trail makes its way northwest around the vastness of Lake Kerr on this 10.1 mile section. It’s accessible to day hikers via two [...]
Juniper Springs - Surrounded by the dryness of the Big Scrub, the world’s largest scrub forest, Juniper Springs is a playground of hydrological wonders, the center of a jungle-like oasis of riotous growth. Here, you’ll find every sort [...]
Lake Eaton Sinkhole Trail - In the heart of the Big Scrub of the Ocala National Forest, the Lake Eaton Sinkhole is a relatively young phenomenon compared to the other large sinkhole in the region, Devil’s Millhopper. It punctured the [...]
Lake Eaton Trail - Two trails, one trailhead. The Lake Eaton Trail is in the heart of the Big Scrub, part of the “Lake Eaton Trails” on the northeast side of Lake Eaton in the Ocala National Forest, halfway [...]
Leon Sinks Geological Area - 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 [...]
Ocala National Forest – Bear Swamp Trail - Little known except to those who frequent this beautiful campground in the Salt Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest, the Bear Swamp Trail provides a glimpse into the ancient forest that undoubtedly crowded [...]
Ocala National Forest – Clearwater Lake Loop - Most hikers headed for Clearwater Lake in the Ocala National Forest are looking for the Florida Trail, which starts its northbound journey of 70 unbroken miles just north of SR 42 in Paisley. But the [...]
Ocala National Forest – Timucuan Trail - In less than a mile, you experience all of the major habitats of the Ocala National Forest—and can cool off with a swim. Noted for its clarity, Alexander Springs gushes out of a subterranean crevice [...]
Olustee Battlefield - Wind through the pines and step back in time to trace the unfolding of the Battle of Olustee near Lake City. The hike through Olustee Battlefield is short, but its historical significance is great. More [...]
Osceola National Forest – Trampled Track Trail - Around 1875, barely a decade after the Union defeat at the hands of the Confederate Army at Olustee, retired Union Soldier Tom Russell and his business partner Isaac Eppinger bought up the land around Ocean [...]
St. Francis Trail - It’s hard to believe, as you walk under bowers of live oaks and cabbage palms, that a town once crowded the wharf where the St. Johns River turns away from the St. Francis Dead River, [...]
Trail of Lakes - By itself, the Trail of Lakes is a 3.9-mile blue blazed connector between two portions of the Florida Trail around Camel Lake, a soggy, boggy walk in the Apalachicola National Forest. To enjoy it as [...]
Yearling Trail - In the fall of 1876, Reuben and Sara Jane Long established a homestead on Pat’s Island, a high spot in the Big Scrub. Shaded by longleaf pine and turkey oak, they grew sugar cane and [...]
