Suwannee River kayaking and canoeing: It’s a top Florida experience
If you think all there is to the Suwanee River is an old song with problematic lyrics, you’re missing out on one of Florida’s greatest kayaking, canoeing and camping rivers.
If you think all there is to the Suwanee River is an old song with problematic lyrics, you’re missing out on one of Florida’s greatest kayaking, canoeing and camping rivers.
Peanut Island, reached only by boat in Riviera Beach, has clear turquoise water full of visible sea life. It’s great for a picnic at the beach — even camping. It’s an exceptional county park.
The Calusa Blueway is a 190-mile long paddling trail through the Gulf Coast waters around Fort Myers. It’s not designed to be through-paddled, but it IS designed to be Florida’s best kayak trail. You can get free maps of the various paddling trails sent to you.
From art museums to gardens to scenic boat tours, you’ll find many things to delight and amuse you in Winter Park. We took the train to this walkable gem of a town in the Orlando area.
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.
There’s a good reason Boca Grande is a favorite among the rich and famous: It’s beautiful, unspoiled and preserves the charm of Old Florida. The good news: It makes a satisfying daytrip, especially on a bike.
The historic agricultural area surrounding the Homestead entrance to Everglades National Park offers so many cool experiences — a park where you can see and sample exotic fruits, a historic village of shops and restaurants, a local tropical-fruit winery and famous fruit milkshakes and cinnamon rolls.
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.
Natural beauty makes Riverbend Park a delightful place to explore. Its 10 miles of bike trails are particularly suited to family bicycle outings. It’s also the site of a historic battleground and is where you launch for kayaking the Loxahatchee River.
Within an hour’s drive of the urban tangle of South Florida, one of Florida’s two nationally designated “wild and scenic” rivers meanders through a spectacularly lovely cypress swamp. Kayak trips range from an hour or two to a strenuous all-day adventure.
It’s easy to find a beach in Florida. It’s harder to find a hidden beach, a beach where you experience a sense of discovery and delicious isolation. Here, however, I share my favorites, discovered over many years.
Our editors pull together 7 of their favorite outdoor things to do in Florida.
This paved bike trail system has it all — spectacular scenery, a smooth paved surface with few road crossings and great amenities and stops along the way. And it keeps getting better. The final northern segment to downtown Sarasota just opened.
Naples is a wealthy enclave with lush, tropical neighborhoods and lots of natural beauty close and accessible. Here’s a guide to things to do outdoors in Naples and surrounding areas.
Many of these free things to do in Florida are off-the-beaten path spots to enjoy nature, wildlife and history — from 300-year-old forts to superb boardwalks.
Florida A1A stretches the whole length of the state’s Atlantic coast. But the can’t-miss part is this 30 miles in Northeast Florida. Here are the best stops along that route, some you might miss without our tips.
Sebring, a small town along the lovely Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida, is staking a claim for something new — Florida’s first (and only) craft soda festival, the Sebring Soda Festival. Local small-batch sodas made with real sugar are making a comeback, partly as an outgrowth of the craft beer phenomenon. This Sebring festival is a good opportunity to taste what it’s all about.