The state of Florida has waived entrance fees to state-managed lands for Floridians this weekend (Fri-Mon). Get out there and enjoy your public lands!
#hiking #florida #outdoors #nature #floridahikes
floridahikes.com/free-state-l...
Marshy cove with water lilies on a lake with cypress trees clad in browning needles in early winter
Marshy cove in Little Lake Harris at the end of the boardwalk at Sarah Maude Mason Nature Preserve, Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida
#stunday #lakeviews #waterlilies #marsh #floridahikes #centralflorida #hiking #naturephotos #nature #photography
Blue sky with puffy clouds reflected in waterway edged by cattails, palms, cedars, and oaks
Beautiful morning to loop this long-abandoned quarry allowed to rewild along the Cross Florida Greenway.
#stunday #natirephotos #photography #photosky #nature #rewilding #bluesky #florida #floridahikes
#Stunday morning: swampy cove on the cypress-lined north shore of Lake Istokpoga, one of Florida's largest but least accessible lakes.
.
.
#boardwalk #lakeistokpoga #sebring #floridahikes
Glad to have @craigtimes.bsky.social dive in on the issue of private firms "gatekeeping" public lands by charging high entrance fees. #floridahikes #ocalanationalforest #publiclands
3 photographers waited for I don't know how long to capture this alligator coming down the hill. I just walked up and got to experience the moment. I repected them too much to even come close to them to get a better shot. #floridawildlife #photography #photos #nature #floridahikes #centralflorida
Alligator cruising across a pond with aquatic plants mounded on its head
Alligator in the shallows in aquatic plants below a boardwalk
Alligator peeking out of a duckweed covered pond
Big alligator crossing a trail between impoundments
Typical sunny #Florida morning in a swamp full of alligators. Check out the camo on the head of the one in the reflecting sky waters. All at #OrlandoWetlands this AM.
#floridawildlife #alligators #naturephotos #floridahikes
Florida scrub-jay perched in a palmetto
Florida scrub-jay picking through shells near a mangrove-lined channel
Florida scrub-jay in what I believe is a scrub plum
Author with a most surprising selfie of a flicker swooping in at the scrub-jay she knew was there.
Birds. Birds are up. Rejoice. I did. 🕊️🌿 #birding #birds #birders #specialmoments
#naturerx #floridabirding #floridascrubjay #floridahikes
Lake covered in greenery of lilies in shallows
Open channel to lake behind lilies
Boardwalk to lake under cypress
Author of post on a boardwalk in a lakeshore floodplain forest
Taking a lunch break along the shores of well-hidden but huge Lake Istokpoga southeast of Sebring, FL.
#biglakes #boardwalks #floridahikes #lakeistokpoga #blueskyday 🌿
Reflections of ferns and trees on dark swamp water below the viewer
I'm always intrigued by the textures of the forests around me on #floridahikes. At Grassy Waters Preserve in West Palm Beach, islands in the ancient Everglades are surrounded by tannic shallows reflecting the jumble of tropical vegetation that thrives there.
Today's #naturerx #momentofbeauty
Scrub hickories lining a footpath
Leaves of scrub hickory
Scrub hickories along a hiking trail
The author of this post among the scrub hickories.
A delightful and very immersive scrub hickory forest on the Atlantic Coastal Ridge at Indrio Scrub, north of Fort Pierce. #floridahikes #fortpierce #floridascrub #naturalist 🌿
Cyclists and hiker in front of prop roots of a massive strangler fig
Human for size against multi-faceted trunk of big tropical fig tree in Florida
A curtain of trunks to this complex tree
Big strangler fig tree at the base of a wooden ramp
Thick trunk Tuesday is here! A whopper of a strangler fig steals the show at Tree Tops Park in Davie. #thicktrunktuesday #floridahikes #bigtrees 🌿
Tannic creek meets the Intracoastal Waterway in front of a sand bluff topped with cabbage palms
Tannic creek meets the Intracoastal Waterway under blue skies in Palm Coast at Waterfront Park.
#blueskymonday #floridahikes #naturemoment 🌿
Red maple in fall color and reflections on Haw Creek
Curve in Haw Creek covered in a thicket of aquatic plants
Reflections on a ditch in the middle of the hammock at Haw Creek
Tree trunks in creek floodplain sport high water marks against a leafy and dry forest floor
A little bit of winter beauty in the little-known Haw Creek basin in western Flagler County on a hike at Haw Creek Preserve. #floridahikes #hawcreek 🌿 #bunnell #naturalist
Root beer colored waterfall with foam at its base flowing in front of an observation deck.
View of tannic waterfall from deck
Rapids in a north Florida stream called Falling Creek
Rapids in a north Florida stream
Just north of Lake City, this Florida #waterfall is the showiest among many on tributaries of the Suwannee River. An easy loop hike at Falling Creek Falls lets you experience the roar. Your Friday 🥾 #scape
🌿 #naturalists #trails #floridahikes
Massive base of a live oak tree
The Cellon Oak's crown spread exceeds 160 feet
Author and the Cellon Oak
A really thick trunk
The ultimate in #thicktrunktuesday ... until recent years the Cellon Oak was Florida's largest live oak, measured 32.5 feet around in 2018. Now challenged by one on private land not far away.
#floridahikes #gainesville #cellonoak
A few mighty entrants for #thicktrunktuesday along the Trailwalker loop at Indian Lake State Forest, Silver Springs.
#floridahikes #indianlake #floridastateforests
Lake Apopka from a steeply descending trail at Ferndale Preserve
A thin line of blue on the horizon is Lake Apopka as seen from the Green Mountain Overlook, Astatula
Lake Apopka at lake level at the end of the Healthy West Orange Boardwalk, Oakland Nature Preserve
Lake Apopka at lake level at Ferndale Preserve
#scape Friday, they say? Here's a few perspectives on Lake Apopka, one of Florida's largest lakes. It's northwest of Orlando.
#lakeapopka #floridahikes #nature #naturalist 🌿
Sweetbay magnolia in a bayhead roughed up by Hurricane Milton
Sizable live oak
A massive sand pine that alas, is nearly uprooted
Live oaks dominate the hammock canopy and although stripped of many leaves and smaller branches, are filling back in again.
A #thicktrunktuesday doubleheader! Some mighty big trees survived Milton at Hammock Park, Dunedin.
🌿 #naturalist #bigtrees #floridahikes
Bald cypresses at Hog Island, Withlacoochee State Forest, Nobleton
Live oak at Fickett Hammock Preserve, Brooksville
Live oaks at Crews Lake Park, Spring Hill
The Ancient Oak, Dade Battlefield Historic State Park, Bushnell
It's #thicktrunktuesday again! Lots of excellent finds this week in Central Florida while revisiting trails for my forthcoming book for @floridapress.bsky.social
🌿 #naturalist #bigtrees #floridahikes
Swamp chestnut oak leaves in fall colors
Size of fallen swamp chestnut oak leaf equivalent to a 9-1/2 shoe.
Swamp chestnut oak leaf and wild coffee sprouts on forest floor with shoe for size
The author hiking through a hardwood hammock that feels like it's in the Florida Panhandle although it's just north of Brooksville
Botanical beauty at Fickett Hammock near Brooksville. Amazing to see swamp chestnut oaks this far south and concurrent with wild coffee.
#floridahikes #naturalist #wildflorida 🌿
A cove along Lake Apopka frequented by egrets, herons, and osprey
Gallinules picking through water spangles for their meals
Trailside armadillo digging for insects
The author of this post on a blustery day along Lake Apopka, one of Florida's largest lakes.
Cold outside? Wildlife doesn't mind. A stroll to Lake Apopka on the Healthy West Orange Boardwalk, Oakland Nature Preserve. #floridahikes #floridawildlife #oaklandflorida #naturalist 🌿
Lake edge studded with cypress knees
Lakefront framed by palm fronds with lilies in the shallows
Tannic shallows at the edge of a lake in Florida
The author of this post standing on an ancient midden with a spill of fossil shells down a small bluff by a large oak along the edge of a Florida lake.
Delighted by a diversity of perspectives on Lake Beresford, part of the St. Johns River, via a loop on the Lake Trails at Lake Beresford Park in DeLand.
#floridahikes #DeLand #westvolusia #stjohnsriver 🌿
Red Bug Slough Preserve, Sarasota
Cary Nature Trail, Baldwin
Alafia River State Park, Lithia
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Naples
Busy busy doing the prep work to set up the framework for one final contracted trail guide. Here's a few of the locations to be included. #floridahikes #hikingtrails #getoutdoors
Large trees rising out of depression in forest
Water filled sinkhole in densely forested floodplain in winter
Massive cypresses rising from a spring
Sinkhole depression lined with ferns
Rambling a river bluff forest amid a karst landscape in winter at Rock Bluff Springs along the Suwannee River.
🌿 #floridahikes #floridahabitats #floridageology #naturalist 🌱
Ancient live oak along river floodplain with woman for size comparison.
A perspective from farther away on the same oak
A serious contender for #thicktrunktuesday with my sister providing perspective. This immense live oak is along the Myakka River floodplain in Myakka River State Park.
#floridahikes #floridastateparks 🌿
Portion of a base of an ancient bald cypress with the tiniest of interpretive markers (or so it seems)
Extraordinarily tall and broad bald cypress easily centuries old
Having stumbled across #thicktrunktuesday seems this find in Middleburg along Black Creek would be a worthy contribution 🌿
#naturalists #floridahikes
Trail sign Old Agrico Trail next to hilly footpath
Trail split up and down a forested hill
Trail up a series of roots to a large boulder
Trail on the lip of a pit covered in slime green
It's short, but this hiking-only trail through old phosphate pits and diggings at Alafia River State Park covers intensely rugged terrain for Florida. floridahikes.com/old-agrico-t...
#floridahikes #floridastateparks #alafiariverstatepark
