While Tampa and Hillsborough County is thought of as an urban center along the north shore of Tampa Bay, it has a growing number of natural lands protecting drainages into the water supply of the region, including linear areas along the Hillsborough, Little Manatee, and Alafia Rivers, all of which have hiking trails. Special protection has been accorded upland areas, too, with more scrub habitats now under protection.
Alderman’s Ford Preserve
Part of an extensive corridor of natural lands – more than 10,000 acres worth east of Tampa – protecting the flow of the Alafia River, Alderman’s Ford Nature Preserve offers a surprising treat for a Central Florida hike– whitewater. The Alafia River flows over limestone boulders as it winds through a deeply eroded channel, forming… [Continue Reading]
Alderman’s Ford Park
An easy loop at this popular county park, the Lithia Nature Trail slips behind the nature center for a walk in deeply shaded woods. Along the river’s floodplain corridor, you are in hammocks where massive cypresses and oaks rise above clear sand-bottomed streams in eroded gullies. Resources Overview Location: Lithia Length: 0.3 mile Lat-Lon: 27.867496,-82.137076… [Continue Reading]
Boyd Hill Nature Park
Boyd Hill Park originally began its life as a zoo and botanical garden for the city of St. Petersburg. It has since evolved over the decades into a mosaic of natural habitats and wild tropical landscapes along the shores of Lake Maggiore. From the outer Main Trail, there are five side trails (mostly loops) showcasing… [Continue Reading]
Caladesi Island State Park
Protecting a windswept shoreline and a variety of habitats on a barrier island off the historic coastal community of Dunedin, Caladesi Island State Park is undoubtedly one of the gems of the Florida State Parks system. It’s been named the top beach in the United States, thanks to its quiet and remote location, the view… [Continue Reading]
Eagle Lake Park
In the heart of Pinellas County, Eagle Lake Park is the legacy of the Taylor family, who helped to found Largo – then known as Citrus City – with their groves and citrus packing plant. Surrounding their homestead was one of the last significant pine forests in the most densely urban county in Florida, as… [Continue Reading]
Egmont Key State Park
Resources Overview Location: Egmont Key Length: 1 mile Lat-Lon: 27.613088, -82.736473 (for ferryboat dock) Type: round-trip Fees: state park access fee Difficulty: easy to moderate Bug Factor: moderate Restroom: not on the island Pets are not allowed on the island. Egmont Key State Park website Directions The Tampa Bay Ferry departs from Fort De Soto… [Continue Reading]
Eureka Springs
In 1938, amateur botanist and world traveler Albert Greenburg established a botanical garden with tropical plants around springs that fed a lush floodplain forest along Six Mile Creek. Years later, he started the first tropical fish farm in Florida in the springs, and in 1967 donated the 31-acre site to the county. Construction of the… [Continue Reading]
Fort De Soto Park – Arrowhead Nature Trail
Explore several coastal habitats on the Arrowhead Nature Trail at Fort De Soto Park, an interpretive walk with plenty of stops where you’ll learn all about the salt-dependent plants along the rim of Mullet Key Bayou. Several openings in the mangroves enable you to enjoy scenic views with a wide sweep of the shallows of… [Continue Reading]
Fort De Soto Park – Barrier Free Trail
Dangling like an anchor into the southern waters of Tampa Bay, Mullet Key is known to the world as Fort De Soto Park, home of a rare find: unspoiled, uninhabited Suncoast beaches. During the Spanish-American War, the pressure was on to protect Tampa, since troops shipped out of the port for Cuba, and thus Fort… [Continue Reading]
Fort De Soto Park – Soldier’s Hole Nature Trail
Its name comes from legends of soldiers deserting the fort in the dead of night, slipping through the mangrove swamps to freedom. Soldier’s Hole is a cove in the mangrove forest, abuzz with mosquitoes and thick with tidal muck. It’s a nursery for fish and crustaceans taking their nutrients from the detritus formed by fallen… [Continue Reading]
Hillsborough River State Park
Resources Overview Location: Tampa Length: Up to 5.8 miles in a round-trip and two loops Lat-Lon: 28.1491, -82.2273 Type: Balloon Fees: Florida State Parks entrance fee Difficulty: Easy to Moderate Bug Factor: Moderate Restroom: Yes, near suspension bridge Watch for poison ivy along the trail. Directions Take I-75 to Tampa exit 265 (Fowler Avenue). Head… [Continue Reading]
Honeymoon Island State Park
On this barrier island just north of Clearwater Beach, the Osprey Trail at Honeymoon Island State Park offers a close-up look at a rookery of “sea eagles,” the noble osprey. There are nesting colonies of osprey and pelicans along the Osprey and Pelican Trails, and sweeping views across the sound and the Gulf of Mexico.… [Continue Reading]
James E Grey Preserve
James E. Grey Preserve is a hidden treasure on the outskirts of New Port Richey, a quiet rural breather along the Pithlachascotee River. It’s in a most unexpected place: surrounded by modern-day subdivisions, a tiny patch of rural Florida exists down a bumpy one-lane limerock road, a handful of residences deep in the woods and… [Continue Reading]
John Chesnut Sr. Park
With its extensive waterfront on Lake Tarpon and Brooker Creek in Oldsmar, John Chesnut Sr. Park has always been a popular natural getaway for folks near Tampa and Clearwater Beach. Pop in any weekend and you’ll see the picnic pavilions busy and people headed out on the water from the boat ramp. In this 255-acre… [Continue Reading]
Lettuce Lake Park
At the north edge of Tampa, Lettuce Lake Park protects 240 acres along the Hillsborough River, providing a getaway for hikers, bicyclists, and picnickers. Trapped between tall cypress trees in ponds dense with water lettuce, Lettuce Lake is a bend in the river creating a haunting swamp. Boardwalks lead you through this wild place. Best… [Continue Reading]
Little Manatee River Hiking Trail
Resources Overview Location: Wimauma Length: 2.9 miles or 6.5 miles Lat-Long: 27.675111, -82.349814 Type: loop Fees / Permits: state park entrance fee Difficulty: moderate Bug factor: moderate Restroom: No You must visit the Little Manatee River State Park entrance first and get the gate combination (and map) from the ranger before heading up here to… [Continue Reading]
Moccasin Lake Nature Park
Sitting at the base of busy US 19 in Clearwater, Moccasin Lake Nature Park preserves a lush patch of native forest and a stream for the public to enjoy. Centered on a popular nature center, it’s an ideal place to take the kids for a gentle nature adventure. Resources Overview Location: Clearwater Length: 1 mile… [Continue Reading]
The Friends Trail
Looping through pine flatwoods in the middle of suburbia, the Friends Trail at Brooker Creek Preserve offers an escape from busy Pinellas County life. This was the first trail to open on the county’s largest nature preserve and remains a quiet getaway at the end of a dead-end road. While less than 2 miles long,… [Continue Reading]
Upper Hillsborough River Hiking Trail
A linear hiking trail, the Upper Hillsborough River Hiking Trail meanders through pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods, open fields, oak hammocks, and floodplain forests along the edge of the Hillsborough River basin Resources Overview Location: Zephyrhills Length: 4.6 miles Lat-Long: North trailhead: 28.259000,-82.114133 Lat-Long South trailhead: 28.223017,-82.146133 Type: Linear Fees / Permits: free permit required for… [Continue Reading]
Upper Tampa Bay County Park
Located west of Tampa off Hillsborough Avenue, this 2,144 acre park protects a large swath of the sensitive mangrove-lined northern shores of Upper Tampa Bay, a massive estuary. Centered on a large Environmental Study Center, the park is very popular for family and group picnics, and for paddlers to launch into the shallows of the… [Continue Reading]
