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Florida Trail (FT) - 1,400 miles - View Gallery

Traversing more than 1,400 miles in a single state, the Florida Trail (FT) offers an unexpected spectrum of experiences as it ties together Florida’s wilderness areas, agricultural lands, urban greenways, and small communities. Linking together most of Florida’s 81 natural habitats, ranging from Caribbean-style thickets of tropical flora to rocky limestone outcrops topped in trillium and columbine, the Florida Trail offers extreme botanical diversity as it straddles two time zones. Best of all, it’s a prime winter hiking destination—when the other National Scenic Trails are under a blanket of snow, Florida’s backpacking is at its best.

First conceived in the 1960s by Miami resident Jim Kern and crystallized by the creation of the Florida Trail Association (FTA), the Florida Trail became reality when volunteers painted blazes through the Ocala National Forest in 1966 for a hiking-only footpath. FTA lobbied Congress for National Scenic Trail designation, which was granted in 1983. 

What Florida lacks in elevation, it makes up for in diversity. At the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, where the trail begins in the Big Cypress Swamp, hikers slog through a rain-fed crystal-clear river inches deep and miles wide, where ancient, gnarled cypress stand less than 10 feet tall and sawgrass prairies catch the sun. Amid sugar cane fields and cattle ranches, there are miles of man-made water control dikes providing views up to forty miles across Lake Okeechobee, the perfect spot to watch a sunset or sunrise. A hike through Central Florida means prairies and riverbanks, deeply shaded hardwood hammocks and pine forests. In North Florida, there are bubbling springs to be savored, and more than 60 miles of hiking along the famed and scenic Suwannee River. Florida’s Panhandle introduces another dimension to the trail, with waterfalls and sinkholes, pitcher plant prairies, deep ravines, and sand-bottomed creeks. 

Long distance hikers have a variety of challenges to meet, starting with logistical planning. Some stretches of the Florida Trail have no hiker services for as many as 83 miles. On the South Florida dike system, days are spent in the grueling sun. The terrain can be uneven underfoot, with trail surfaces ranging from soft sand to slippery muck. And it can be a lonely experience. Only a dozen or so people attempt a thru-hike each year. Day usage, however, draws residents and tourists alike, since there are trailheads within an hour’s drive of most Florida communities.

The Florida Trail remains a work in progress, nearly three-quarters complete with connecting roadwalks making a thru-hike possible. Managed by the USDA Forest Service in conjunction with the Florida Trail Association, trail protection includes ongoing purchases of land to protect a natural corridor the length of Florida. Because of Florida’s year-round growing season, maintenance involves year-round mowing and clipping by volunteers, so the trail doesn’t vanish under vegetation. Learn more at www.floridatrail.org.

“Fun Facts”
Lake Okeechobee is the second largest freshwater lake entirely within the United States, and the Florida Trail entirely circles the lake—118 miles around atop the Herbert Hoover Dike, built for flood control. Since 1992, day hikers have had the opportunity to circle the lake on the Big O Hike, held Thanksgiving week, with annual participants coming from as far as northern Ontario and California.

The Ocala National Forest is where the Florida Trail began, and it remains the most popular section for backpacking. Part of the allure is the natural freshwater springs, which bubble up in shades of aquamarine and turquoise from deep beneath the earth. Only hikers can access Hidden Pond, a spring-fed pond deep within the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, right along the trail.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is the only National Wildlife Refuge in the United States which offers overnight primitive camping at designated sites—if you’re registered as a Florida Trail thru-hiker. One of these campsites, Ring Levee, offers a can’t-miss view of Florida’s Big Bend, where the Panhandle transitions into the peninsula.