Informative articles about the best Florida kayaking trails, canoe trails, paddle trails, coastal trails, river trails, spring runs, wildlife paddles, wilderness rivers, wilderness paddling.
This is your first step in planning adventures for the coming cooler weather. We’ve paddled dozens of Florida waterways and here’s our pick for the best places to kayak by region plus a few “unsung” favorites we recommend you discover.
Faver Dykes State Park offers excellent kayaking, productive fishing and woodsy camping just 15 miles from historic St. Augustine.
O’Leno State Park is a Florida treasure. It is here that the Santa Fe River vanishes, only to re-emerge a few miles south to continue its scenic crawl to the Gulf of Mexico.,
When it’s chilly, you can see dozens of manatees at this free park. Even without manatees, the Orange River is a beautiful kayak trail through Old Florida scenery.
The Ichetucknee is the most pristine spring run in the state. It has eight major springs, crystalline water, lush jungly vegetation plus plentiful birds and wildlife. It’s a shame that most visitors only experience it as a busy tubing river. It’s a fabulous winter kayaking destination in North Florida — worth a drive!
Mount Dora has a lively downtown and a well-preserved historic district on a pretty lake. It’s a walkable small town with good dining and shopping. What we like just as much: There is great kayaking and biking nearby.
Masking the spine of suburban sprawl from Fort Pierce to Jensen Beach is an unexpected escape into the wild.
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.
If you’ve ever dreamed about exploring a deserted tropical island, here’s your chance: Take your kayak down to the Florida Keys and paddle out to Indian Key State Park to explore jungly ruins and snorkel a rocky shoreline.
Milton has grown from the “canoe capitol” in Florida’s Panhandle into an outdoors center with eco-resorts and multiple activities. The area’s white-sand rivers are terrific to kayak or tube and there are good hiking and biking trails. Milton has an interesting historic district too.
Vast and remote, the Ten Thousand Islands off Florida’s southwest coast seems challenging to visit, a labyrinth of twisting channels through thousands of remote mangrove islands.