Walking around Lake Okeechobee
Grassy Waters near Taylor Creek
One of my favorite annual pastimes is walking around Lake Okeechobee, Florida’s largest lake and the second largest lake entirely within the United States. It’s 110 miles or so around the perimeter of the “Big Water,” a rural slice of Florida where sugar cane fields and cattle ranches dominate the landscape. For nine days, we walk the “Big O” Hike, 35 feet above this ocean-like lake on the man-made Herbert Hoover Dike, which was built in the 1930s after hurricanes devastated several of the lakeshore towns. It’s a long walk on the Florida Trail with a great group of friends, and you can join us, too, this upcoming Thanksgiving week! Read about the experience...
Summer in Florida can be pretty oppressive, with the heat and humidity making outdoor recreation less than optimal. But there’s a quiet corner of Florida where cool water and cool breezes are the norm, a place that feels a lot like Appalachia, with high clay bluffs overlooking swift rivers and shallow water dancing across limestone rapids, with sandy beaches where you can beach your kayak and take a swim. You’ll find this summer getaway in the northwest corner of our state within Blackwater River State Forest, more than 190,000 acres of protected land between Alabama and Pensacola. Learn more about what to see and do there this summer from 
Tis the season to get out to the Ocala National Forest, which is enjoying its centennial later this year (the oldest National Forest east of the Mississippi River, no less!), and take a canoe trip down the wild and winding Juniper Run. The water is (mostly) shallow and clear, the setting almost tropical. Make it easy on yourself and rent a canoe at the Juniper Springs Recreation Area: arrive early or call ahead!
A perpetual traveler, I'm Sandra Friend, the author of more than 20 books on outdoors, nature, and travel subjects. I'm an award-winning member of the Society of American Travel Writers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Florida Outdoor Writers Association.