Florida Hiking

For Florida hikers, vacationers, outdoor enthusiasts, and wildlife watchers who want to plan and execute their own adventures, this second edition of the popular guidebook will be indispensable. Molloy and Friend explore the trails of Florida to provide readers with an easy-to-use, accurate, and thorough guide to hiking in more than 2 million acres of federally owned wilderness. These areas contain some of the Sunshine State's most spectacular scenery--from pristine beaches and emerald oceans to towering pine forests and sparkling spring-fed lakes.

Illustrated with photographs by the authors, this guide describes every marked and maintained trail in Florida's national forests, parks, and preserves. Each description contains a profile of the path, detailing and rating its condition, length, and difficulty and describing the highlights and hazards of the trail. Profiles also give trailhead directions, trail connections, and hiking season information, followed by a running narrative describing what hikers can expect to see and experience on the trails. This updated edition covers large and small changes in the trails since 2000, most notably the new western corridor of the Florida Trail through Ocala National Forest and the storm-driven changes to the same trail at Gulf Island National Seashore and in Everglades National Park. Also included is a new section on Canaveral National Seashore.

The book also features vignettes of natural and human history along the trails. Many of the areas border sinkholes and other geologic formations, wind through fascinating ecosystems such as the Everglades, and pass by historic sites such as old roadways, mail routes, battlefields, and military forts, and Molloy and Friend highlight these throughout the book in fascinating anecdotes. They also provide information on what to wear and bring on hiking expeditions to maximize safety and comfort along the great hiking trails of Florida’s protected lands.

The definitive guide to more than 500 hiking trails in Florida that no enthusiast will want to be without.

 

Hikers in the Sunshine State may find themselves less than elevationally challenged, but what Florida trails lack in altitude, they make up for in habitat diversity. More than 80 different natural communities range across the state, from tropical gumbo limbo forests to open prairies and sand dunes, and a single brief hike can encompass any number of these environments.

Avid hiker and author Sandra Friend presents the complete guide to over 500 hiking trails spread across Florida. These trails cover 2,273 miles, including portions of the 1,400-mile Florida Trail, a designated National Scenic Trail that is the state’s premier hiking destination. For each trail, a concise one-page listing describes trek highlights and provides pertinent information on trail length, logistics, sources of additional maps, and directions to the trailhead (with GPS coordinates for many). Organized by region for immediately accessible information, this guide is a user-friendly trail companion for beginners and advanced hikers alike. 

 

The Florida Trail stretches the length and breadth of the Sunshine State, from Gulf Islands National Seashore in the panhandle to Big Cypress National Preserve less than an hour from suburban Miami. In 2006, veteran hiker and outdoorsman Johnny Molloy hiked the length of the trail in one three-month stretch.

 

This engaging story of his journey, the first narrative account of a Florida Trail thru-hike, is peppered with outrageous and charming characters. Molloy’s peanut butter thermometer and his "Five Foot Radius Theory of Camping" for tired hikers will make experienced backpackers smile knowingly. Novice hikers will find his insider tips priceless.

 

Beginning at the southern end of the trail, less than an hour from suburban Miami, he was challenged by some of the roughest terrain he would face before making his way around Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater lake in the continental United States. Traveling north and west traversing sand pine scrub forests, he made his way up the Suwannee River, around the Big Bend into the cathedral of palms in St. Marks Refuge, through the Apalachicola National Forest, and along white sand beaches to the Alabama state line.

 

Many may never hike the entire course of the Florida Trail, but its convenient trailheads make it easily accessible to any resident or tourist. So, start the adventure; plan your own short hike, thru-hike, or simply join Molloy without leaving the comfort of your armchair.