Okeechobee is the heart of Florida’s old frontier, surrounded by vast prairies with cattle ranches and the sweep of Lake Okeechobee, one of America’s largest lakes. Hikes in this area treat you to the “Big Sky” that only this region of South Central Florida can offer. The Florida Trail both follows the curve of Lake Okeechobee and heads up north along the Kissimmee River, affording more than 100 miles of backpacking easily accessed from this community in Florida’s heartland.
Okeechobee is a Florida Trail Gateway Community and one of the central locations for camping (Okeechobee KOA) during the annual Big O Hike around Lake Okeechobee.
Florida Trail, Chandler Slough West
Chandler Slough is a significant natural feature in the middle of the Okeechobee prairies. It’s especially noticeable as you’re hiking the Florida Trail, since from a distance it looks like a mountain ridge. In fact, it’s just the opposite—it’s a low gash in the landscape where water pools and flows towards the Kissimmee River. But [...]
Florida Trail, Henry Creek to Okeechobee
Arcing northward along the shoreline of Lake Okeechobee, this paved segment of the Florida Trail – known locally as the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail – offers spectacular sweeping views of the open water of one of America’s biggest lakes. It’s here you encounter an interesting array of bird life, from sandhill cranes to colonies of [...]
Florida Trail, Hickory Hammock to Bluff Hammock
With its spreading moss-draped oaks and tall hickory trees, dark floodplain forests of cabbage palms and beautiful riverside campsite, the Hickory Hammock section is one of the jewels of the Florida Trail System. This is one of South Florida’s most spectacular hikes, thanks to the old growth forest along the Kissimmee River floodplain, including dense [...]
Florida Trail, Ocean to Lake: DuPuis Reserve
It took more than a decade of planning to get the project on the ground, but the Ocean-to-Lake Trail, a spur of the 1,400-mile Florida Trail leading from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean at Hobe Sound, is now a reality. The easternmost segments provide some ongoing access challenges, but the western section – accessed [...]
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 necessary to backpack in from one end or the other of the Ocean-to-Lake western segment in order to experience the [...]
Florida Trail, Pahokee to Port Mayaca
*** Hiking south of Port Mayaca to Pahokee is currently prohibited due to reconstruction work on the dike. Thru-hikers should use the western route around Lake Okeechobee. *** The sweep of Lake Okeechobee curves away from your perch on the Herbert Hoover Dike as you walk this section of the Florida Trail along the eastern [...]
Florida Trail, Port Mayaca to Henry Creek
One of five 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 Bay, teeming with bird life. This is definitely a section that city folks who exercise on pavement will excel at, [...]
Fort Center
Explore a pre-Colombian village lost in Florida’s past – and uncovered again in modern times, thanks to the efforts of curious archaeologists – by following this trail in Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area. The Fort Center site is documented as possibly the first place in the eastern part of our continent where people crew corn. [...]
Fort Drum Marsh
It’s the birthplace of the St. Johns River, a mosaic of wet prairies, cypress swamps, and hardwood hammocks in the wide open spaces between Yeehaw Junction and Vero Beach—waiting for you to explore. Zipping along SR 60 between Florida’s Turnpike and Vero Beach, you just don’t think about hiking. Orange groves, perhaps, or prairies or [...]
Harney Pond Canal Boardwalk
Where’s the best view of Lake Okeechobee? It’s hidden in plain sight in the town of Lakeport, in a park that’s alternately known as the Harney Pond Canal Recreation Area and Margaret Van De Velde Park. While this walk is short, it’s long on scenery. Scrambling up two spoil banks to a boardwalk that’s pointed [...]
Kilpatrick Hammock Trail
Florida’s most impressive prairie vistas are well-buffered from civilization by massive cattle ranches to the north of Lake Okeechobee. Just to get to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park means a drive of 10 to 17 miles off the nearest major highway on a dead-end road. It’s why this is one of the best places in [...]
Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park
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 [...]
