The Florida Trail – Celebrating Fifty Years

by Sandra Friend and John Keatley

CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS

It starts in a swamp, and ends on a beach. It has no mountains, but it is the most botanically diverse trail in the United States. The Florida Trail stretches 1,400 miles across two time zones in a single state. In 1966, a small group of trailblazers started painting blazes in several Florida locations to provide Floridians with a place to go backpacking. Fifty years later, the statewide Florida Trail, a ribbon of federally-protected footpath between the Big Cypress Swamp and Pensacola Beach, provides day hikers and backpackers access to an extraordinary array of Florida habitats, primitive campsites, and unique natural destinations across Florida’s public lands. This commemorative retrospective of Florida’s National Scenic Trail shares the stories of those who have played a part in building, maintaining, and experiencing this national treasure, and recounts the paralleling history of the volunteer organization created to develop the trail, the Florida Trail Association.