The Econlockhatchee — Econ for short — is close to Central Florida cities, yet it offers vast wild areas to kayak and even camp along a beautiful river not overrun with people.
Orlando/Central Florida
The Mount Dora Bicycle Festival attracts thousands for competitive rides over hill and dale. This is your guide to the festival with schedules, a list of nearby campgrounds and links to hotel and vacation home reservations.
This year-round surfing mecca has more to offer beyond the resort cluster near the pier. Discover these hidden things to do.
Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales will fill a day with exploration and beauty — manicured landscapes, history and trails atop a lofty hill in Central Florida. Here are our seven favorite spots.
Canaveral National Seashore is quiet and peaceful with bountiful wildlife, and you can always find your place in the sand.
Lakes Wales is blessed with the historic and grand Bok Tower Gardens, but there are other things to do, from funky ‘Spook Hill’ to a pretty pathway around the lake for biking or walking.
Camping, kayaking, hiking, biking and a humongous swimming pool are the top features of this state park that straddles the Hillsborough River.
Development is creeping up on Spruce Creek and Strickland Bay, but there’s still enough scenic shoreline left to enjoy an awesome day of kayaking.
The park is beautiful, the swimming is fabulous and paddling opportunities are numerous. Blue Spring State Park in southwestern Volusia County has something special year-round.
If you haven’t experienced Florida’s most famous spring, you’re missing one of the most beautiful spots in Florida. This weekend, Ocali Country Days, a special living-history festival, will re-create the Ocala of the 1800s. Year-round, this park has it all: kayaking, hiking, glass-bottom boat rides, horseback riding and terrific cabins.
Here’s a great weekend getaway for bicyclists. The appealing West Orange Trail, a 22-mile rail-trail, goes right down the middle of the lively main street in Downtown Winter Garden. Stay in the Historic Edgewater Hotel for a great base with Old Florida charm.
Lake Norris & Blackwater Creek are hidden gems of the Wekiva River system near Orlando. The dwarf cypress in the lake are like a gorgeous watery bonsai garden. It’s an easy paddle worth seeking out for its great beauty.
Tucked into the woods between two lakes and a wildlife preserve, this 54-site public campground is $18-$23 per night and only 20 minutes from Disney World.
The Van Fleet Trail into the Green Swamp is one of the most rural, isolated rides you’ll find in Florida. It’s flat. It’s straight. But if you want to truly get away from it all and encounter a little wildlife along the way, here’s the place.
Colt Creek State Park is one of Florida’s newest parks, part of the massive Green Swamp Wilderness near Tampa, with RV and tent camping, backpacking, kayaking, fishing, hiking and off-road bicycling.
This Gainesville area state park is a vast playground for hikers and bikers, but also for bison and wild horses. There are miles of trails, great campsites and wildlife galore.