View Full Version : Florida Trail Hiking
Megapixel
12-27-2009, 21:48
Hello to all fellow Florida hikers! I am curious as to the safety of various sections of the FLA. trail. I would love to do some hiking on it and any other trails in Florida (near me) experienced folk can recommend! I am a bit worried about hearing the FLA. Trail is not safe because of certain people. I am in Fort Myers FL, and just waiting for some good advice on this. Thanks a bunch.
GeneralLee10
12-28-2009, 00:31
I hike mostly in the Ocala NF I have not had any troubles. There are 70 plus miles of forest to hike. You can look at this site http://www.myfloridahikes.com/ . Sandra has tons of good info lurking around.
BumpJumper
12-28-2009, 09:01
Lived here all my life. Hike FT all the time...I am still here..:sun
I have not heard anything like you are talking about....
GMcClain20
12-28-2009, 11:53
I've never had any problems either. At times I've run into less than desirable characters at easily accessible locations like highway intersections, day use areas, campgrounds, etc. But never anything less than friendly on the trail.
It looks like one of the routes around Lake Okeechobee goes right through Belle Glade, which might be dicey.
If you want a sub-section of the Florida Trail, do the 38 mile Citrus Loop. It is SW of Inverness. You can camp at Holder Mine or Mutual Mines (full service campgrounds). Just wait until after mid January when big game hunting ends. You will need to stash water at the road crossings since this is a dry trail. It is safe there.... or at least I never heard of any problems. Ultimately, the western branch of the through trail will use some of this loop section. Note that there are also cross trails that make shorter 1 day loops.
Just John
jnanagardener
12-28-2009, 22:42
You are close to several hiking gems, including a personal favorite, Myakka River State Park. I just did an 11 mile hike there last week and, other than the six deer and two feral hogs, never saw another soul. Issues for day hiking the Florida Trail include a general awareness of hunting activity, the varying effects of rainfall on certain sections and proper planning for hikes in the summer. I don't have enough camping experience to address related issues.
BumpJumper
12-30-2009, 19:06
I agree...floridahikes.com
Megapixel
01-01-2010, 22:47
Thanks everyone!
Mountain Dog
01-04-2010, 16:32
No danger on the trail unless you are a yankee and plan to stay.
Ladytrekker
01-05-2010, 11:36
Some of my favorite Florida Trail hikes are along the Suwannee River. You can hike from Stephens Foster State Park (Whtie Springs) to Suwannee River State Park (Ellaville) the entire hike is along the river and is approx. 40 miles. Of course the trail is before and after so you can shorten or extend the hike as much as you want. The Canoe Outpost can assist in shuttling if needed.
I just recently hiked the WSF Citrus Tract about 9 miles of it and I really liked this area also. Water is a problem. I am hiking 30 miles of it in March and will cache water have already scouted and setup the cache locations.
I've never had any problems with anyone on or around the FT. Come on over to Inverness and hike the Citrus Loop! I spend a lot of time in the WSF, and live a couple miles from Holder Mine.
Hiked the entire 1400 miles of the FT mostly solo. Only creepy person incident I can recall was on a roadwalk section where a guy tried to talk me into his car, most stubborn was a hunter (in a car) that insisted I would be safer on the road than in the woods, but I didn't have any problems other than that. Encountered black bears, feral hogs, alligators, rattle, cottonmouth and coral snakes, but the biggest wildlife issue was the mosquitos, and frequent reapplication of repellant dealt with most of that.
Just hike. You'll do fine.
BumpJumper
01-13-2010, 11:25
J, arent you local to me? Lets go for a day hike to catch up.
stumpknocker
01-13-2010, 13:41
I walked the Florida Trail, but started at Key West, which is a 180 approach trail to the actual start of the Florida Trail. I would walk the Florida Trail again, but once was enough for the walk through the Keys.
I encountered about the same it sounds like as jnetx did...only maybe not quite as many mosquitos, at least most of the time.
There's lots of road walks, but even some of those were pretty nice when you were on old dirt roads. I especially liked the swamp walks of Big Cypress and Bradwell (or Bradford) Bay, but there are lots of great places all along the Florida Trail.
There was a few places where I did worry about some dogs in residential areas.
I encountered about the same it sounds like as jnetx did...only maybe not quite as many mosquitos, at least most of the time.
Maybe you're just not as sweet as me!!;)