Central Florida hiking locations

[adnone1art]

Moving to Florida, what are good long distance hikes around central fl?

[fizz3499]

The Florida trail is 1400 miles long and goes trough most of the state. Here is a link to help you out. I live in Florida and hike the Florida trail often don't under estimate how hard it can be. The terrain runs the gamut from swamps to never ending sugar sand. The extreme heat, snakes andbugs are a never ending challenge also but it will get you in shape for the Appalachian trail. Camping is allowed on most of the trail and you only need a permit when your on Indian land.
http://floridahikes.com/florida-trail

[LeafChiefer]

The Florida Trail is all around Central Florida. I'm doing the Ocala section next week. Going to be hot but used to it. There is also the section in the Seminole Forest. Check out the Florida Trail app. Really great and even shows water spots, resupply, and camping areas.

[Spirit Walker]

Good resource is http://floridahikes.com There you'll find information on hiking, biking, backpacking etc. Sandra Friend also has written hiking guides for the FT as well as the 50 hikes series for Central and Southern Florida, among others.

[moytoy]

You can also get a list of hiking trails here. http://www.floridatrail.org/othertrailscentralregion/

[GreatDane]

In addition to the Florida Trail Association, check out the Florida State Parks website. Some of the state parks have trails that are good for overnight and weekend hikes for those times when you can't go for a week or more, but just can't sit at home another day. Also, I just bought a Falcon guide at Barnes & Noble called Hiking Central Florida by M. Timothy O'Keefe, which has a range of trails from easy one mile hikes to what he calls "long hauls", including some hikes I hadn't heard about before.

[Walkintom]

Also check out websites for water management districts. SWFWMD has some nice properties you can hike and camp on.

[Bronk]

I recommend Myakka State Park...there are over 30 miles of intersecting and looping trails...you can pretty much put together a day hike or multi day hike with as many or few miles as you care to hike.

[Ladytrekker]

The Water Management Districts are a great source of hiking info. Link into the district you want to check out and go to recreation. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/watman/
The Ocala National Forest is probably the most popular of the Florida Trail in Central Florida. Other great sources is the Florida Trail Association. https://www.floridatrail.org
Florida Hikes is an excellent source also. http://floridahikes.com