Discovering The Florida Trail

With 1,400 miles of hiking across Florida, what does the Florida National Scenic Trail look like? Its beauty and botanical diversity reflects the incredible variety of landscapes found in Florida, from Caribbean-style tropical hammocks to Appalachian-like ravines with mountain laurel blooming in spring. This compact coffee table book introduces you to a walk in the woods across the state of Florida.

One of only 11 National Scenic Trails in America, the Florida Trail was first blazed in October, 1966. Documenting a half century of progress of the creation of America's most unique National Scenic Trail - which stretches from the Big Cypress Swamp to Pensacola Beach, this full-color book weaves together past and present, showcasing the trail's beauty while explaining how it was created. Stories from participants in the process capture the moments that built momentum for both the Florida Trail and the Florida Trail Association.

Stretching more than 1,200 miles across the Sunshine State, the green ribbon of the Florida National Scenic Trail connects the silent depths of the Everglades cypress swamps with the crystalline white sand beaches of Pensacola. Illustrated with fetching full-color photographs, this volume weaves a narrative of day hikes and backpacking trips with snippets of the natural and cultural history that define the essence of Florida.

Now in its third edition in six years, our award-winning guidebook to the Florida National Scenic Trail provides comprehensive end-to-end coverage of more than 1,400 miles of hiking in Florida, a must-have for planning a long hike on the Florida Trail.Mileage charts, overview maps, and descriptions of significant waypoints along the trail let you sit and plan a day hike or a short backpacking trip as well.356 pages, 106 maps. Wholesale discount available. Contact us through watulapress.com

The 1,300-mile Florida National Scenic Trail spans the state from Big Cypress National Preserve near the Everglades to its beachfront terminus at Gulf Islands National Seashore. This long-distance hiking trail encounters more than 80 distinct habitats along the way, including dwarf cypress forests, pine flatwoods, sawgrass prairie, and coastal dunes. Perfect for day-, section-, and thru-hikers, The Florida Trail: The Official Hiking Guide is the first comprehensive guidebook on the Florida Trail. Book jacket.

A guide to the best scenic day hikes and overnight trips along the state-spanning Florida Trail, this book helps readers of all backgrounds and experience levels plan an adventure exploring natural Florida.

In thirty-six thrilling days, Melanie Radzicki McManus hiked 1,100 miles around Wisconsin, landing her in the elite group of Ice Age Trail thru-hikers known as the Thousand-Milers. In prose that’s alternately harrowing and humorous, Thousand-Miler takes you with her through Wisconsin’s forests, prairies, wetlands, and farms, past the geologic wonders carved by long-ago glaciers, and into the neighborhood bars and gathering places of far-flung small towns. Follow along as she worries about wildlife encounters, wonders if her injured feet will ever recover, and searches for an elusive fellow hiker known as Papa Bear. Woven throughout her account are details of the history of the still-developing Ice Age Trail—one of just eleven National Scenic Trails—and helpful insight and strategies for undertaking a successful thru-hike. In addition to chronicling McManus’s hike, Thousand-Miler also includes the little-told story of the Ice Age Trail’s first-ever thru-hiker Jim Staudacher, an account of the record-breaking thru-run of ultrarunner Jason Dorgan, the experiences of a young combat veteran who embarked on her thru-hike as a way to ease back into civilian life, and other fascinating tales from the trail. Their collective experiences shed light on the motivations of thru-hikers and the different ways hikers accomplish this impressive feat, providing an entertaining and informative read for outdoors enthusiasts of all levels.

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.

Using this comprehensive hiker's guide to travel services along Florida's National Scenic Trail, you can plan a weekend, a week, or an entire walk across Florida using the logistical details for hikers and backpackers presented in this book. Covering more than 1,400 miles of hiking on the Florida Trail and connected footpaths, The Florida Trail Guide offers you hundreds of starting points for a walk in the woods, Florida-style. Spanning from the edge of the Everglades to Gulf Islands National Seashore in Pensacola Beach, the Florida Trail is one of America's great National Scenic Trails. With statewide volunteer efforts coordinated by the Florida Trail Association since 1966, the route of the trail leads you through the most diverse landscapes you'll find along a trail in a single state. From tropical forests in South Florida to the deep ravines and Appalachian-like bluffs of Northwest Florida, hikers enjoy an extraordinary amount of scenery on a trail that is best enjoyed from October through April. The trail passes by and through many small towns and several cities and is within an hour's drive of most of Florida's major cities. Included in this guide are a full map of the trail, 36 regional overview maps, 63 town maps with service details for towns located along or close to the trail, GPS coordinates for several hundred trailheads and trail access points, at-a-glance services icons, section and thru-trail mileage, mileage charts with point-to-point details based on trail landmarks, calculated mileages between designated campsites, post office locations and hours, hotels and campgrounds near the trail, contact information for thousands of services, permit requirements, important precautions, and basics you should know about hiking in Florida. Links are included to let you expand on the details in this book with online resources.

Hiking South Florida and the Keys features thirty-nine of the finest trails the region has to offer, from wet cypress swamps to dry pinewood forests. Four sections—Short Family Hikes, Day and Overnight Hikes, Long Haulers, and Walking the Florida Keys—comprise this user-friendly guide. M. Timothy O’Keefe shares his top hikes in twenty-three prime areas, including Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Jonathan Dickenson State Park, Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and National Key Deer Refuge. Each hike includes all the information you need to make the most of exploring South Florida and the Keys on foot. Look inside to find: • Hikes suited to every ability • Directions to the trailheads • Comprehensive trail descriptions, maps, and elevation profiles • Mile-by-mile directional cues • Difficulty ratings, average hiking times, best hiking seasons, and elevation gain/loss for every featured hike • Area-specific tips on safety, hiking ethics, plants and animals, preserving the environment, and more