Florida has some impressive trees, but the Land of the Giants is worth a walk in the woods not far from Orlando at Spring Hammock Preserve.
 
Most Floridians have heard about the Big Tree… you know, the one called the Senator, the showpiece of Big Tree Park. But here’s a little secret. The Senator, and its neighbor Lady Liberty, may get all the attention when it comes to big trees, but just up the road in Winter Springs, you’ll find a stunning array of similar sized giant cypresses in the floodplain forests along the edge of Lake Jesup… and they’re all a part of one giant-sized preserve for this land of the giants, Spring Hammock Preserve.

A Seminole County Natural Area, Spring Hammock Preserve stretches from Big Tree Park, encompassing the floodplain forests on both sides of General Hutchinson Parkway, across US 17/92 where Longwood and Winter Springs meet, up the floodplain of Soldier Creek, and then across SR 419 to protect a significant chunk of Lake Jesup waterfront between Winter Springs and Sanford. In total, it's 1,500 acres of forest in a very urbanized area.


Guidebooks
The Florida Trail: The Official Hiking Guide
Hiker's Guide to the Sunshine State
Orlando & Central Florida: An Explorer's Guide