The southernmost section of the Florida Trail, from the Loop Road Terminus where Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve meet, to the southern boundary of the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation north of Alligator Alley (I-75). It is notable for being the wildest and most rugged segment of the Florida Trail, plunging through a seasonally watery tropical wilderness where wading is a must.
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COUNTIES: Monroe, Collier
START POINT: Loop Road terminus
END POINT: Big Cypress Seminole Reservation
MILES OF TRAIL: 45.1
TRAILHEADS: Loop Road, Big Cypress Visitor Center, I-75 Rest Area (MM 63)
DESIGNATED CAMPSITES: 8
MAPS: 41, 42 (Region 9, South Florida)
TRAIL PARTNER: Big Cypress National Preserve
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In 1966, accompanied by a reporter from the Miami Herald, Florida Trail founder and Miami resident Jim Kern blazed a route through Big Cypress National Preserve to draw attention to Florida’s need for a long-distance hiking trail. Within the year, the Florida Trail was born. Less than 40 miles from suburban Miami, the Florida Trail runs for 45 miles through Big Cypress over some of the most rugged terrain in Florida, starting with a vast expanse of sawgrass prairies and dwarf pond cypress swamps, with vistas comparable to the Serengeti of Africa. It is the last stand of the endangered Florida panther. Rugged and isolated, the trail winds through a primeval landscape of giant ferns and slippery marl, colorful orchids and giant bromeliads, in a watery land nourished by summer rains. As in the Everglades, rainfall collects in nooks and crannies in the spongy limestone bedrock, flowing southward in a shallow sheet towards Florida Bay. Cypresses thrive in the deeper sloughs, which act like streams; the perpetual warmth and dampness encourage epiphytes to flourish.
Hikers follow orange blazes along a frequently watery route, day hiking the segment between the Florida Trail’s southern terminus at Loop Road and the Big Cypress Visitor Center at Oasis on the Tamiami Trail. North of Oasis, it’s a backpacker’s domain through 28 miles of remote wilderness. Backpackers utilize designated campsites set on dry hammocks along the trail route.
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Florida Trail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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One of eight National Scenic Trails in the United States, the Florida Trail is a footpath spanning 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from Big Cypress National Preserve (between Miami and Naples, Florida along the Tamiami Trail) to Fort Pickens at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola Beach. Also known as the Florida National Scenic Trail (which applies only to its federally certified segments), the Florida Trail provides hiking and backpacking opportunities within an hour of most Floridians.
With its first blaze marked at Clearwater Lake Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest, the Florida Trail began on October 29, 1966, established by members of the Florida Trail Association. Working in partnership with the trail's federal manager, the USDA Forest Service, and land managers throughout the state of Florida, the Florida Trail Association continues to provide the support of thousands of volunteers to build, maintain, and protect this recreational resource.
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In the early 1960s, Miami resident Jim Kern headed to North Carolina with his brother for a hike on the Appalachian Trail. Returning to Florida and knowing there was nowhere near his home to go backpacking, he envisioned a 500-mile (800 km) hiking trail across Florida. He founded the Florida Trail Association and encouraged members to join him in the vision of creating a trail across the state. His initial hike, a media event for the Miami Herald, took him from the wilds of Big Cypress to Highlands Hammock State Park near Sebring, FL. By October 1966, Kern had spoken with the managers of the Ocala National Forest and received permission to start blazing a hiking trail. The Florida Trail has been underway as a volunteer-driven construction project ever since. Like many other National Scenic Trails, the Florida Trail has been built in disconnected segments, created in a corridor where public land (or easements granted by private individuals) is available to route the trail.
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Most portions of this trail are not regularly used by other hikers. Even portions of the trail within National Forests are frequented by vagrants and drug addicts[1]. There have been many murders[2] and unsolved deaths[3] on this trail, especially in the Ocala National Forest area.
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