Hiking Central Florida

by M. Timothy O'Keefe

Overview

Hiking Central Florida describes forty of the region’s best and most varied hikes, those that offer the chance to observe unspoiled, natural Florida at its finest. With terrain ranging from wet cypress swamps to dry pinewood forests, the region offers subtly striking scenery and it harbors rich diversity.

Covering the area from Ocala to State Road 60 near Lake Wales and Yeehaw Junction—and also embracing the northern stretch of the Florida Trail in the Ocala National Forest and the Bulow Plantation/Bulow Creek hike on the Atlantic coast—this user-friendly guide takes you from short family hikes in places such as Canaveral National Seashore, to backpackers' delights. It provides all the information you need to make the most of exploring Central Florida by foot.

Look inside to find:

• Hikes suited to every ability
• Directions to the trailheads
• Comprehensive trail descriptions and maps
• Mile-by-mile directional cues
• Difficulty ratings, average hiking times, and best hiking seasons for every featured hike
• Area-specific tips on safety, hiking ethics, plants and animals, preserving the environment, and more

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493080045
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/03/2024
Series:	Regional Hiking Series
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

M. Timothy O'Keefe, head of the Journalism division at the University of Central Florida, has published 13 books, over 1,000 magazine articles and more than 5,000 photographs. His work has appeared in several National Geographic books, National Geographic Traveler, Time-Life Books, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Scientific American, Travel & Leisure, Caribbean Travel & Life, Reader's Digest Magazine, and Reader's Digest Books.

O'Keefe's writing and photography have won more than 50 regional and national awards. The Florida Outdoor Writer's Association (FOWA) named his Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year: Florida with Georgia and Alabama Coasts "Best Book" of 1997. The following year, FOWA named The Spicy Camp Cookbook (Menasha Ridge Press) as the "Best Book" of 1998.

Tampa Bay Magazine has called him "Florida's premier wildlife photographer and writer."

Table of Contents

The Hikes

Family (Short) Hikes

Atlantic Coast

Canaveral National Seashore

1. Nature Trails

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

2. Wildlife and Nature Trails.

Gulf Coast

Honeymoon IslandState Park

3. Loop Trails

Caladesi Island State Park

4. Beach and Nature Trails

Inland Hikes

DeLeon Springs State Park

5. Wild Persimmon Trail

Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge

6. Nature Trails

Hontoon Island State Park

7. Indian Mound Trail

Blue Spring State Park
8. Boardwalk Trail

Tibet-Butler Preserve

9. Nature and Perimeter Trails

Withlacoochee State Forest

10. McKethan Lake Nature Trail

Day Hikes

Silver River State Park

11 Sinkhole & Silver River Trails

Bulow Creek Trail

12. Plantation Creek Trail

Flat Island Preserve:

13. Daubenmire Trail

Split Oak Forest Mitigation Park

14. North and South Loops

Geneva Wilderness Trail

15. Loop and Linear Trails

Little-Big Econ State Forest
16. Econ Loop Trail

Disney Wilderness Preserve

17. Disney Wilderness Preserve Trail
Hillsborough River State Park

18 Florida Trail & River Rapids Nature Trail

Tiger Creek Preserve

19. The Pfundstein Trail

Overnight Hikes

Blue Springs State Park

20. Pine Island Trail

Seminole State Forest
21. Florida Trail and Lower Wekiva Loop Trail

Wekiwa Springs State Park

22. Wekiwa Loop Trail
Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Areas

23. Florida Trail Segment

Little Manatee River State Park

24. Loop Trail

Lake Kissimmee State Park

25. North and Buster Island Loop Trails

Long Haulers

Ocala National Forest

26. Ocala North

27. Ocala South

Withlacoochee State Forest

28. Citrus Trail

Three Lakes WMA/Prairie Lakes Unit

29.Three Lakes Trail

30. North and South Loop Trails

Editorial Reviews

10/11/2024

These excellent guides are organized in a straightforward manner that helps hikers get on the trail as fast as possible. They do not all begin the same way, nor are they all organized in like fashion, but they all offer the same high level of information and cover a multitude of hikes of different types. The level of detail in this series is impressive, with mileage cues, GPS coordinates for trailheads, hikes for all kinds of adventurers (plus adventurous kids and dogs), photos, and loads of tips. Each hike listing includes information about the terrain, distance, time, difficulty, accessibility, land-use status, nearest town, and points of interest, plus trail name changes, available maps, and more (depending on the hike and what the series' experienced authors think is important). Even dining and accommodations are considered, and there's information on weather and flora and fauna, plus contact details for parks and organizations. VERDICT Libraries should consider these essential if they are located within the region of any title in the series and may want to buy titles covering popular areas farther afield.

Library Journal

FalconGuides point the compass to the best spots to play, climb, hike, fish, and be.”
—CNN.com

CNN.com