Centrally located in North Central Florida, Ocala is surrounded by more than 200 miles of hiking trails, including two large segments of the Florida Trail along the Cross Florida Greenway and through the Ocala National Forest. It is one of the most ideal jumping-off-points for hikers looking to enjoy a flurry of day hikes or a week or more worth of backpacking.
Carney Island Park - As a peninsula in Lake Weir, parts of Carney Island Park are naturally air-conditioned, like the benches adjoining the trailhead parking area, overlooking the lake. While waiting there for a group of hikers to assemble, [...]
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, Baseline to Marshall Swamp - Along this woodland in Ocala, enjoy a swath of true urban wilderness, a mile-wide corridor edged on both sides by subdivisions and strip malls. Both remain gratefully out of sight and sound as you walk [...]
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, 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, Land Bridge Trailhead to Santos - As the Cross Florida Greenway sweeps through Ocala and along the edge of Belleview, it provides access to a series of forests broken by unobtrusive road crossings in the heart of horse country, canopied roads [...]
Florida Trail, Marshall Swamp - Tarzan’s signature cry once echoed along the crystalline Silver River less than a mile from this section of the Florida Trail, which leads you through a dense, dark floodplain forest beneath a canopy of deep [...]
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, Pruitt - It’s not just the ancient live oaks, but the switchbacks and scrambles, the habitat diversity, the stories that the landscape tells—and “Stonehenge.” These are some of the reasons that the Pruitt section of the Florida [...]
Florida Trail, Pruitt to Ross Prairie - As a protected corridor south of Ocala, this section of the Florida Trail is the westernmost segment on the Cross Florida Greenway, showing off the unusual terrain created during construction of the Cross Florida Ship [...]
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, Ross Prairie to SW 49th Ave - As a protected corridor south of Ocala, this section of the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway offers delights you just can’t imagine from the roads that bisect it—CR 484 and SW 49th Avenue. [...]
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 [...]
Florida Trail, Santos to Baseline - In its mile-wide sweep across a swath of Central Florida, the Cross Florida Greenway hits an interruption just a few miles to the north of Belleview. The community of Santos was “in the way” during [...]
Florida Trail, SW 49th Ave to Land Bridge Trailhead - This short segment of the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway offers easy access to one of its most popular destinations—the Land Bridge over Interstate 75. From the highway, it looks somewhat odd, topped [...]
Goethe State Forest – Buck Island Pond Trail - Looping around a cypress-lined pond in the midst of pine flatwoods, the Buck Island Pond Trail at Goethe State Forest has quite a few interesting features going for it. For one, a great little boardwalk [...]
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 [...]
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 – Salt Springs Loop - For a hint of fall color in the Ocala National Forest, the Salt Springs Loop trail just south of the town of Salt Springs showcases a variety of habitats, among them a floodplain forest along [...]
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 [...]
Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration Area - Winding northward from Lake Griffin, the Ocklawaha River was once a meandering river through vast marshes, cypress swamps, and floodplain forests as it worked its way towards the St. Johns River near Palatka. But channelization [...]
Rainbow Springs State Park – Sandhill Trail - More than a century ago, the forests surrounding first-magnitude Rainbow Springs were a beehive of activity as miners dug pits in the limestone to find nuggets that made Dunnellon a boomtown—phosphate. This area was the [...]
Ross Prairie Loop - Starting at the Ross Prairie Trailhead, the 3.5-mile Ross Prairie Loop offers an overview of Ross Prairie, a sprawling complex of grasslands and ponds nearly three miles long. Edged by sand pine scrub, longleaf pine [...]
Ross Prairie State Forest – 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 [...]
Silver River Connector - Gushing more than 550 million gallons of water out of a cluster of springs each day, Silver Springs is the birthplace of the Silver River, a wild and scenic waterway that my paddler friends like [...]
Silver River State Park – River Trails - 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 [...]
Silver River State Park – Sandhill Nature Trail - Back in the 1980s, when I first heard that land had been acquired near Silver Springs for a state park, I was thrilled. Having grown up nearby, it bothered me that the Silver Springs attraction [...]
Silver River State Park – Sinkhole Trail - 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 [...]
Silver Springs Conservation Area - It’s been a long time coming – Marion County’s first conservation area is now open for hikers to enjoy. Tucked between residential and business areas in Silver Springs across from Silver River State Park, this [...]
Sunnyhill Restoration Area – Levee Trail - A 4,405-acre swath of public land in the Ocklawaha River floodplain, Sunnyhill Conservation Area offers five different trailheads for hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians to roam its vast network of forest roads and levees. I’ve ducked [...]
Watermelon Pond WEA - On the westernmost edge of Alachua County, Watermelon Pond is a sprawling prairie complex that was once a massive lake, a haven for wading birds. Unfortunately, the dewatering effects of continued development in the region [...]
Withlacoochee State Forest – 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 [...]
Withlacoochee State Forest – 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 [...]
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 [...]
