The Florida National Scenic Trail is a great option for fall and winter backpacking trips/U.S. Forest Service
Fall, which is arguably the best season for hiking in the National Park System, is almost upon us. The cool days and bright colors provide hikers with plenty of incentive to hit the trails.
With that wonderful season in mind, we’ve selected some of the country’s “scenic trails” for your consideration. To those we’ve added a Yellowstone National Park classic, a hike in Canyonlands National Park, and another that traces one of the bloodiest days of the Civil War.
Here's our final hike for this fall:
Fall and winter are the best seasons to explore Florida with a pack on your back. The Florida National Scenic Trail has over 1,400 miles to explore, from Gulf Islands National Seashore in far west Florida, to southern Mississippi, to Big Cypress National Preserve at the southern tip of Florida.
A trek here brings you face to face with the state’s deep biodiversity, its history and, of course, its abundant wildlife. The Florida Trail Association notes that while the footpath is continuous, some sections run along roads, as well as private property. You can obtain a recently updated book of waypoints along the trail from the association.
There are seven hiking shelters along the trail, but they’re stretched over 1,400 miles, which makes it impossible to spend every night in one. Understandably, it’s recommended that you carry a tent for your primary shelter.
The association points out that the vast majority—95 percent—of thru hikers start out in Big Cypress and head north. They do so, “mainly because it’s cooler in South Florida in winter, and you move north with seasonal changes, and the hunting seasons (where certain campsites are closed) also move south to north over the same time frame.”
Planning a thru-hike is no small accomplishment, as it normally takes hikers two-to-three months to accomplish the task. To catch the coolest weather, thru hikers head out on New Year’s Day.
While the hiking season generally starts in earnest in late October, the association says that due, “to unpredictable weather and hunting seasons in the fall, we recommend thru hikes start in the south in early January and end in the north by April. This schedule will avoid almost all general gun hunting restrictions and place your hike during the winter ‘dry’ season.”
Logistically, the longest stretch between refueling points is the 83-mile run through the Apalachicola National Forest. Additionally, the Association notes, “(T)here are a couple other long stretches (such as White Springs to Aucilla), where resupply is possible only if you can catch a ride to a town 8-12 miles from the trail.”
Helpful books:
Florida Trail Databook, which contains GIS data along the trail. Individual regions of this information can be downloaded from the Florida Trail Association’s website at this page. The 2014-15 Thru-Hiker Map Packet w/ Databook ($99.95) from the association.
Add comment