PAYNES PRAIRIE STATE PRESERVE, FL — For a short hike with guaranteed wildlife sightings, you can’t beat the La Chua Trail at Paynes Prairie State Preserve south of Gainesville. This trail (3 miles round trip) is just teeming with critters: dozens of alligators, a myriad of birds, even an occasional herd of wild bison or […]
Florida Day Trips
Explore Florida Caverns State Park
FLORIDA CAVERNS STATE PARK, FL — Florida is full of caves. But unless you’ve got scuba equipment, special certification, and what some might call a death wish, you’ll never get to see most of them. Since Florida’s water table is so close to the surface, few of its caves are dry. Florida Caverns State Park […]
Marjorie Rawlings Cross Creek Home
MARJORIE RAWLINGS STATE PARK, FL — Marjorie Rawlings’ Cross Creek home remains a page out of one of her novels. From the veranda of her rambling Cracker house she wrote such classic Florida stories as The Yearling and Cross Creek. But it turned out perfectly. “When I came to the Creek,” Rawlings wrote, “I knew […]
Ponce Inlet – Florida’s Tallest Lighthouse
DAYTONA, FL — Florida’s tallest nightlight has aided sailors for more than a century. These days, the 175-foot lighthouse and museum at Ponce de Leon Inlet, just south of Daytona, put the spotlight on Florida’s rich maritime history. After you’ve visited the lighthouse, it’s only a stone’s throw to the delightful beach at Lighthouse Point […]
Florida’s Tallest Waterfall Is a Geological Oddity
FALLING WATERS STATE PARK — For a state with as little elevation as Florida, a 70-foot waterfall is truly unique. In fact, it’s more than 10 times higher than the average elevation of the state. What’s more strange, it originates at ground level. It begins as a small, rather ordinary stream that winds through a forest […]
Blue Spring State Park: A Winter Haven for Manatees
The earliest review of Blue Spring gave the place an 18th-century version of thumbs down. Naturalist John Bartram visited Blue Spring in January of 1766, and found a “surprising fountain … the colour of the sea, [that] smelled like bilge water, tasting sweetish and loathsome.” Fortunately for modern travelers, the chemistry of the spring has changed […]