FLORIDA-General

SIGHTS & SITES
●Everglades Trail – evergladestrail.com or fla.usa; no “must-do” route on 300-mile path, which has 20 sites in Central, Southeast & Southwest Florida; Everglades Trail highway signs make finding sites easy; can start with walking trail & look for panther tracks at #20 (Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Naples), or head straight for snorkeling at #12 (Biscayne National Park, Homestead); also interesting are: #1, Rosen Shingle Creek (Orlando, quiet, unassuming creek lined with cypress trees, short trail behind Marriott; #3, Lake Kissimmee State Park, Lake Wales, has full-facility camping, hiking on nature trails, backpacking, horse trails, canoeing/kayaking & boating, on weekends from October-May 1, it is “living history” with 1876 Cow Camp & Florida Cow Hunter demonstrations about what life was like rounding up wild cattle in this area, for panoramic view over Lake Kissimmee, climb observation tower at picnic area (14248 Camp Mack Road); #10: Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, boardwalk in 146K acre cypress swamp refuge; #13: Everglades National Park, Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, Homestead, walk short Anhinga Trail for up-close look at wildlife & vast River of Grass, 1.6M acres (largest subtropical wilderness in America); #18: Collier-Seminole State Park, Naples, popular walk goes through royal palms.
●Great Florida Birding Trail – floridabirdingtrail.com; 2K mile collection of more than 500 locations where bird habitats protected; divided into 4 sections (Panhandle, West, Eastern & South), each containing at least 2 “gateway” sites; Roseate Spoonbill, Limpkin, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-cockaded Woodpecker & endangered Florida Scrub Jay..