Established as a city in the 1870s, Sanford is the county seat of Seminole County and an excellent gateway to many hikes in natural lands on both sides of the river. Just 25 miles north of downtown Orlando, this historic community incorporates green spaces and a lengthy river walk along Lake Monroe, a wide point in the River of Lakes that is the St. Johns River.
Bear Creek Nature Trail - A patch of wild in a sea of Winter Springs suburbia, Bear Creek provides nearly a mile’s worth of exploration atop sandy bluffs in a deeply shaded creekside hammock. Walking among the ancient cypress, oaks, [...]
Big Tree Park - On March 2, 2013, the boardwalk at Big Tree Park reopened as part of the Seminole County Centennial celebration. The Senator is no more, but a clone of the Senator was planted on the grand [...]
Black Bear Wilderness Area - One of Seminole County’s newest natural lands, the Black Bear Wilderness Area offers some of the best birding and wildlife watching in the region. True to its name, it was a place to find bear [...]
Black Hammock Wilderness Area - For those in the know, Black Hammock is a bit of Old Florida still clinging to the old ways along the shores of Lake Jesup, where folks still grow celery and strawberries and ride their [...]
Blue Spring State Park - If you’ve never seen manatees by the dozens, let alone a hundred or more, there’s no better place in Florida to watch these gentle giants drift past than near Deland along the boardwalk at Blue [...]
Buck Lake Conservation Area – East Loop - A sprawling wildlife management area encompassing more than 9,600 acres along SR 46 between Mims and the St. Johns River, Buck Lake includes a diverse array of uplands and wetlands habitats. The East Loop isn’t [...]
Florida Trail, Little Big Econ State Forest - Flanking the banks of the Econlockhatchee River, a ribbon of wilderness protects a swath of forests edged on one side by suburbia, on the other by ranchland. It is the Little-Big Econ State Forest, more [...]
Florida Trail, Mills Creek - As the Florida Trail follows the curve of the basin in which Mills Creek drains from Lake Mills into a bowl of marshlands to the east of Chuluota, it leads you through a colorful array [...]
Florida Trail, Seminole State Forest - One of the older sections of the Florida Trail near Orlando is also one of its finest. A hike through Seminole State Forest leads you through the kind of vast, open spaces that you’d never [...]
Gemini Springs Park - More than 150 years ago, this forest along the marshes of the St. Johns River was cleared for farming, becoming the Padgett homestead on outskirts of busy Enterprise. It later operated as a cattle ranch [...]
Geneva Wilderness Area - My first visit to Geneva Wilderness was also my first Florida Trail activity. I’d driven two hours to meet up with the group and got there as the heavens opened. So we packed it in [...]
Green Spring Park - Hidden deep in a leafy glade, a shimmering pool rises from the earth to pour through palm hammocks towards the St. Johns River. At Green Spring Park, the trails are short but well-groomed, with options [...]
Hickory Bluff Preserve - As the St. Johns River snakes its way north from the Canaveral Marshes, it passes through a series of vast marshes and lakes well-known to Central Florida residents – Lake Harney, Lake Jesup, and Lake [...]
Hontoon Island State Park – Indian Mound Nature Trail - There are many public lands on islands in Florida, but Hontoon Island State Park is one of the few surrounded by fresh water and accessible via a free ferryboat. For more than three thousand years, [...]
Lake Harney Wilderness Area - A 300-acre preserve at the outflow of Lake Harney, one of the many Central Florida lakes formed by the St. Johns River as it flows north, Lake Harney Wilderness Area encompasses diverse landscapes. Deer browse [...]
Lake Jesup Conservation Area – Cameron Tract - With panoramic views of the Lake Jesup floodplain, the Cameron Tract of Lake Jesup Conservation Area is a surprisingly beautiful location for a short hike. In late summer and early fall, swamp sunflowers paint the [...]
Lake Jesup Conservation Area – East Tract - One of the few places where you can take in a panorama of vast Lake Jesup, the East Tract of Lake Jesup Conservation Area in Oviedo offers a 2.1-mile hike out to an observation tower [...]
Lake Jesup Conservation Area – Marl Bed Flats - Featuring one of the prettiest hammocks of ancient live oaks that you’ll find along Lake Jesup, the Marl Bed Flats Tract of Lake Jesup Conservation Area along the lake’s north shore is a delightful place [...]
Lake Jesup Wilderness - A dazzling array of swamp sunflowers await each fall at Lake Jesup Wilderness, an expansive wetland area along the northern shore of Lake Jesup. The trail system zigzags through prairies that flood during the wet [...]
Lake Monroe Conservation Area – Kratzert Tract - For a quick dip into the beauty of the St. Johns River floodplain, the Kratzert White Loop offers a family-friendly walk beneath ancient oaks and cabbage palms of enormous size. This 1.5-mile loop was originally [...]
Lake Proctor Wilderness Area - Protecting 475 acres of marshlands, prairie, and scrub forest near the community of Geneva, Lake Proctor Wilderness Area is one of the best places in the region to see sandhill cranes. They gather in the [...]
Little-Big Econ State Forest – Kolokee Loop - One of the most scenic places to hike in the Orlando metro, Little-Big Econ State Forest offers a loop hike that starts less than a mile from the Barr Street trailhead. Named the Kolokee Loop [...]
Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park - As one of several “Sandhills Trails” throughout Florida, the Sandhills Nature Trail at Lower Wekiva Preserve State Park lives up to its name. It’s a 2.2-mile loop through longleaf pine and wiregrass, an ecosystem that [...]
Lyonia Preserve - The Florida scrub-jay, one of Florida’s most colorful native birds, is the star of the show at Lyonia Preserve in Deltona, a precious slice of ancient scrub habitat remaining on a high ridge now otherwise [...]
Rock Springs Run State Reserve - Protecting more than 14,000 acres along the Wekiva River basin, Rock Springs Run State Reserve is well known for its Florida black bear population. While the trail system here was established more than a decade [...]
Salt Lake WMA - Pockets of prehistoric salt water lie deep beneath the marshes of the St. Johns River near Mims, bubbling up as salt springs. As a result, the salinity of South Lake, Loughman Lake, and Salt Lake, [...]
Seminole Ranch Conservation Area – Loughman Lake - One of the mysteries of the St. Johns River is its salt lakes, fed by pockets of prehistoric salt water less than ten miles from the Atlantic Ocean. At the northern end of Seminole Ranch [...]
Seminole Ranch Conservation Area – Puzzle Lake - On January 11, 1765, royal botanist John Bartram guided his canoe into the confusing waters of Puzzle Lake. He and his son, William, scouted the marshes for several days, but found no clear route, and [...]
Seminole State Forest – Lower Wekiva Loop - A lesser-known but beautiful loop trail within Seminole State Forest, the Lower Wekiva Loop provides a long day hike or overnight backpacking trip on its 8.8-mile route. Tracing the edge of both the Wekiva River [...]
Spring Hammock Preserve - Fed by a trickle of hidden springs through lush hammocks of cabbage palms, Spring Hammock Preserve in Winter Springs is one of the most delightful places to take a hike in the Orlando area. In [...]
Wiregrass Prairie Preserve – Yellow Loop - Part of a 1,400-acre watershed encompassing wetlands that flow out of Lake Ashby towards the St. Johns River basin, Wiregrass Prairie Preserve is a wild and rugged place in a distinctly rural setting. This hike [...]
