No matter how many times I see them, the sight of a white pelican, bald eagle or an otter will make my day. These spots are favorites for providing reliable views of animals in beautiful settings.
Hiking
Updated for 2024: If you have one day or its your first visit to the Everglades, this guide will help you see wildlife and experience the essence of Everglades National Park. We offer tips, too, for more in-depth Everglades experiences.
Encompassing more than 600 square miles in North Central Florida, Ocala National Forest is your playground for adventure.
Windswept beaches, pristine back country waterways, a mile-long fishing bridge, scenic campgrounds, and a lot of hands-on history.
Florida bike trails offer great scenery and local flavor. Here are a few great bike trails we’ve tried and recommend statewide.
This northeast Florida state park is on the map but far enough away to be ignored. It’s also far enough away to provide a tranquil camping experience. It’s quiet here.
The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, an Audubon Society preserve, takes you on a hike via boardwalk with good wildlife viewing and exquisite scenery. In summer, you might get a peak at the rare ghost orchid blooming.
Some sections of the 2.5 mile beach remain closed. Otherwise, the park is open every day from 8 a.m. until sunset.
Kelly Park is best known as a summer destination for swimming its cool springs and for paddling scenic Rock Springs Run. We loved camping there.
Cool springs, scenic trails and things to do while exploring Ocala National Forest from 15 campgrounds.
Secluded campground tucked into the shady woods of Oscar Scherer State Park with access to a fabulous rail trail linking Sarasota to Venice.
It’s a perfect time to explore Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach. The kayak trail has been cleared of water lilies clogging the way. You can rent or launch kayaks here, but also hike an exquisite boardwalk through a cypress forest and see birds and other wildlife on the trails.
There are few parks in Florida with as much to offer as Pinellas County’s Fort DeSoto Park. And no park in the state, not even Everglades National Park, attracts as many visitors.
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.
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.
Few South Florida hiking or biking trails rival this 12-mile-long trail near Naples for scenery and wildlife. It deserves to be known outside the Naples area.
Winter is the best time for Everglades camping in both Everglades National Park and Big Cypress Preserve. Options run from recreational vehicles to tents in the back country and glamping.
Masking the spine of suburban sprawl from Fort Pierce to Jensen Beach is an unexpected escape into the wild.
Crossing the state on Alligator Alley? Here are tips on a how to spend 15 minutes, a half hour or a half day exploring the Everglades from I-75. This mile marker guide helps you decide where to stop and what to do along the way.
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.