How to Thru Hike the 1,100 mile Florida Trail

When most people think of top hiking destinations in the United States I would be willing to bet that Florida wouldn’t be something they’d initially consider.

A trail through deep swamps filled with alligators across land so flat you can see the northern terminus from the very south, right? Surely walking down a beach is nice briefly but, for a couple months?

Fortunately the Florida Trail is much more interesting than most people would ever expect, and that very much so includes people that live there.

Many sections have rolling hills where you can look down into deep ravines that mess with your perspective. The subtropical climate makes for incredible scenery to be passing through, an almost jurassic environment at times. Rare wildflowers who’s seeds were blown here from South America via hurricanes of the past. Hiking along high banks of slow moving black water rivers. Bears live here, armadillo, an incredible variety of birds, manatees in the many springs, and of course the cold blooded alligator which you will see many of along the way.

The sun is shining, its 70 degrees, and while the rest of the country is blanketed in snow you’re hiking and camping and having fun down in Florida.

Various environments and sights along the 1,100 mile Florida Trail, a fun variety through and through!

Stats & Overview

• Length – 1,100 miles // 1,770 kilometers
• Duration – Two months on average
• Start – Beginning of January
• End – Before April
  
• Highest Point – 272ft in the Eglin Airforce Base section
• Lowest Point – Certainly below sea level for most of the trail
• Favorite Towns – St Marks, Orlando, & Blountstown

The Winter Thru Hike

One of the biggest things the Florida Trail has going for it is that you can hike it in the winter! Who wouldn’t want some sunshine and warmth when everywhere else is dark and dreary and cold? Or for those who just want the hiking season to never end, the Florida Trail is the answer as very few other long trails can be done during this time.

Expected Temperatures

Like any trail this one too has it’s extremes. In general I would say that the Florida Trail gets colder than you think. Still this is much better than spending a winter in Ohio, or really anywhere up north, but it is worth noting as most are caught off guard.

You will likely experience a weeks worth of nights below freezing, as that has been my experience every time I’ve hiked this trail. That is but an extreme though, and on average it will be in the 70s during the day and 40s at night. For the most part though and this hike will be a warm and sunny beach vacation, but you do need to plan and prepare for the cold as well.

On my third thru hike of the Florida Trail we got hit with the worst winter storm the state has experienced in more than a century, about 7 inches of snow fell overnight with temperatures as low as 14 degrees. It is fun to mention this, but it is an extreme rarity and likely will not happen again for a long time.

The Swamp

Walking through water is always a big concern, and frankly many think that this entire hike is one giant thousand mile swamp! Waist deep, alligators nipping at your ankles, anacondas…. and yet on my three thru hikes I barely even got my feet wet at all.

The southernmost 30 miles of this trail is the wettest part, and then north of there it’s luck of the year. You could get a wet year where swamp trotting is off and on in small sections, or you could find yourself in my shoes where the entire trail is dry. Either way I wouldn’t worry about it too much! More often than not it will be much dryer than you expect as the swampiness of this trail is quite overblown.

When you do find the swamp that does exist, try to enjoy it! It’s an environment entirely unique to this trail alone, complete with plants, flowers, and animals that only exist here because of it. It is a beauty you won’t find anywhere else, and as I said, isn’t not so bad to walk through either. Just be sure to clean out your shoes often.

The swamps are few and far between most years, and many of them have boardwalks over them anyway! A unique hiking experience to be enjoyed whenever present

The Perfect Warmup

The Florida Trail is not just a great hike in itself, but it can also be the perfect warmup before heading off later onto one of the triple crown trails. Sure it’s pretty flat, but that’s good! Do you really want something incredibly difficult before going to do something incredible difficult?

Get a solid base of fitness in a slightly easier environment, test new gear, make sure you’re prepared with what you need, and make new friends who are probably doing the same as you. Overall many people use this as a warmup for their year.

Given the lack of elevation change, and the relatively tame terrain the Florida Trail is the ideal warmup before going to hike something bigger, or as a fun cool down after doing something else.

Animals of Florida

Florida has quite the unique environment given how far south it is, and that leads to a lot of unique plants and flowers and trees, but it also leads to a great variety of animals and birds!

I will go out on a limb here and say that on the Florida Trail I have seen more wildlife than any other trail I have ever hiked. It is something fun to pay attention to as you never know what you will see. Here are some animal stats from my most recent thru hike where I kept track of everything I saw.

• Snakes 9 (not a single water moccasin!)
• Alligators 155
• Bobcat 1
• Wild boar 25
• Black bear 1
• Raccoon 9 (entirely southern 1/4th)
• Gopher Tortoise 1
• Otters 4
• Armadillo 10
• Bird Species 56

Cool animal sightings are not something you have to hope for, it is an every day thing!

A brief overview of the more interesting animals across the Florida Trail

• Alligators – Yes! You are going to see many alligators, and over the course of a full thru hike you may even see more than 200! But you know what? They just don’t care about you. It’s the winter, they are cold blooded, and thus they just want to lay in the sun. This is not their mating season, or baby season, they just want to be warm and cozy. They are lethargic, slow, and uninterested in anything for the winter months. Avoid them as best you can, which as you’ll see is quite easy to do, as they are also trying to avoid you.
• Snakes – Florida may have a large variety of snakes but just like the alligator, because of the time of year they just aren’t very active, and it’s likely you won’t see very many of them. It’s something to be mindful of as certainly they do exist, but this time of year they are just trying to mind their own business and really have no interest in you. During my first thru hike I did not see a single snake the entire trail. On my second thru hike I only saw two or three. And my third thru hike I saw a handful, but not a single water moccasin, which is generally what people are concerned about.
• Birds – Florida in my opinion is really a bird paradise. Given the close proximity to the Caribbean and South America there are a lot of birds which migrate to here which are quite rare, and considering the tropical climate there are many unique birds which will spend the winter here! It’s a very exciting time if you’re interested in birds and hiking the Florida Trail. From the large Piliated Woodpeckers, to all of the wading birds with long legs stretched deep into wetlands, raptors and caracara around every corner, owls hooting every night above my tent, and all of the coastal ocean birds that may come slightly inland it doesn’t get much better. Everyday I am spotting something new and interesting. For anyone interesting in learning more download the app called Merlin. It offers very simple step by step ID, and you can even let it record audio to identify birds just from their songs and calls.
• Bears – Bears do live in Florida and you might see one if you’re lucky, though it would be a somewhat rare sighting. The most likely spot would be in Ocala National Forest as there is a good little population there, so keep your eyes peeled! Particularly around Juniper Springs and the Hidden Pond area. I wouldn’t be concerned by their presence as overall there are much less of them here than any other long trail in the United States.

A green heron hunting, an alligator resting, and an armadillo…. doing armadillo things.

• Armadillo – One of my favorite animals of the Florida Trail is the Armadillo. They’re prehistoric looking rodents with armor shielding their entire body. What makes them fun though is that they have bad eyesight, bad hearing, and overall are quite unaware of their surroundings. Maybe you see where I am going with this, but it’s easy to get close to them and when they notice you often times they will leap straight up into the air ! before scurrying off. I like the armadillos and I hope you see many. Just don’t touch them as they carry bad diseases.
• Otters – Otters live all across Florida and I’ve seen quite a few playing in the rivers and wetlands over the years. From the very north to the very south otters are a fun animal sighting and something to look out for. Hiking season is also their mating season, so you may even see two otters doing barrel rolls and playing, as apparently their courtship is quite involved.
• Wild Pigs – Wild boars get such a bad reputation but really are quite tame, and something I truly love seeing! People think that they are going to attack or chase you, and I am sure that has happened once or twice in the grand scheme of the universe but it’s very unlikely. Much more likely is that they are just going to run from you. They hang out in small packs, digging in the dirt looking for tasty snacks. You will spot them, maybe even get kind of close, and then they will scatter in all directions upon noticing you.
• Panther – A panther would by far be the most interesting thing you could see on this trail. It would be extremely rare as in the wild there is estimated to be only 200 of them in the entire state! On my first thru hike of the Florida Trail I was lucky enough to see one, it ran past where I was packing up my gear in the very early morning, and I feel quite lucky to have had that experience. I have never otherwise seen signs of them, or another one again. I will say that the largest population of them lives in the south around Big Cypress and the Seminole Reservation, so if you’re really keen on trying to spot one the first 50 miles of this hike northbound would be the most likely location.

A rainbow swamp, endless pine trees of Osceola, and a nice camp along the Suwannee

Tips & Advice

• Wear orange! The Florida Trail passes through many areas where hunting is popular and you are going to want to be seen as a safety precaution. Maybe it is worth adding that never on any other trail have I felt this was necessary but on the FT it really is as both hiking season and hunting season match up pretty closely. An orange sweater, orange hat, orange buff, orange backpack, whatever! How much or how little depends on how much you care. Bonus points that the Florida Trail markers are orange themselves, so you’re going to be right on brand and at home with this new orange style.
• Not much daylight. The best time to thru hike the Florida Trail is deep in the winter, something to be aware of though is how little daylight this means you will have. If you like sleeping this is great! The sun doesn’t rise until 8am and then sunset is at 6pm. That is just 10 hours of hiking time, and that’s if you take advantage of every possible hour. This is a really great trail for night hiking as it is easy to follow, so you can get extra miles that way, but I would beware that because of the short daylight hours getting big mile days is more difficult and less fun than you might be first imagining.
• Synthetic quilt, synthetic insulation. This trail is humid, it’s next level humid. How this effects you is that any down sleeping bag or jacket after a week on trail will look and feel like you have left it in the rain. The down gets compressed because it’s constantly damp, and because of that it loses loft, and will not provide as much warmth as it used to. I try to combat this by putting my quilt in a dryer every town, but that only works for a day or two afterwards. I would highly recommend doing that, but I would also consider just using synthetic insulation instead. A fleece instead of a puffy, a quilt with apex insulation instead of down. These types of things are far less effected in heavy humidity and when wet. I think the Florida Trail is perfect for that.

One of my favorite things about camping on the Florida Trail is the owls, nearly every night you will hear owls above calling to one another as you fall asleep

• Start with the kickoff. Every year around the first week of January is the Florida Trail kickoff event. Veterans, trail angels, and prospective thru hikers all get together to share advice and help out this years class to get going. By starting around this event it will make getting from Miami to the southern terminus easier, but it will also mean you can basically start this trail with a great group of people, and have a good chance of finding friends immediately.
• Great trail for an umbrella. The first two times I hiked the FT I noticed the frequency of rain, and I was turning red from the sun exposure down in the south, but it wasn’t until my third did I think wow! An umbrella is the answer. I can’t tell you how happy I was to have an umbrella on this trail. I was excited for the rain, I was dry, I was thriving. And then in the sun! I no longer looked like a lobster, I no longer felt such strong effects of the heat. I had a place to take a break with me anywhere, regardless of whether there was something providing natural shade. I loved having an umbrella on this trail and would without question bring one again next time.
• Three pairs of socks. Overall the Florida Trail is not as swampy as many think, but it does still have little sections where you will be getting your feet wet. Add two or three of these in a row and you’ll be glad to have a dedicated pair of dry socks while you rotate between the three. This will keep your feet happy, you healthy, and make progress in the long run much easier without having to slow down drastically while tending to foot problems.

My umbrella was one of my favorite pieces of gear from the Florida Trail. I loved it in the rain, and I loved it on those scorching sunny south Florida days

Sobo vs Nobo

Every time I have hiked this trail I have gone southbound! Does that mean southbound is better? I would say for most people NO, but there are advantages and disadvantages to consider with both directions. When in doubt though, northbound is the way.

Advantages of going Northbound…

• Most go nobo, and you probably should too – But wait, I’ve gone southbound three times, so why am I telling you to go northbound? I think it really comes down to having comradery. About 200 people attempt this hike per year, and probably 195 of those go north. So on my three southbound hikes I have not once actually run into a single other southbound hiker. I was just alone for two entire months. I know you’re thinking that sounds fine and good, but this trail really is better with friends and I think the vast majority of people would enjoy it more and find more success as a north bounder because of that. All around the Florida Trail is fun, but it is significantly more fun with friends.
• Better timing with seasons – Another huge reason to go north is that the seasons line up better for it. You start the trail January 1st when South Florida has the best imaginable weather, and then you are following that weather for the next two months. For the southbound hiker it is more a story of extremes with the very cold up north, followed by high heat down south. Not only is the south getting hotter naturally, but you are hiking deeper into it everyday. By the end of a southbound hike in March it is absolutely blazing, while the northbound hiker has good weather all the way until the end. A sobo hiker can combat this by starting earlier around December 1st, but the nobo has it much better and I cannot stress that enough.

A sink hole along the Aucilla River

Advantages of going Southbound…

• An easier beginning – The reason I personally choose southbound is because I think the beginning is way nicer. I start my hike on the beach, I camp on the beach, I pass a bunch of stores and restaurants, and then I go off into the woods to hike there for a few days before arriving at one of the largest towns on the trail. Compare this to northbound where you start with 30 miles of difficult hiking through mud and deep swamp water. Your shoes are ruined, and then you are basically road walking from there for more than 100 miles before you get to the next section of trail. What a way to start! Water log your feet and then pound them on pavement for a week all while camping next to roads. Southbound is just an easier beginning, physically and mentally. Beach, trail, camping in the woods, more facilities, and real towns.
• The trail wont be as swampy – After the rains of the summer the trail is pretty wet and that water takes time to either soak into the ground, evaporate, or wash away somewhere else. The winter may be the ‘dry season’ in Florida but that is in regards to getting less rain, and not necessarily having less standing ground water. Since most of the swamps along the FT are in the south (aside from one) the northbound hiker will have to go through these for the first 400 miles or so before getting to dryer land north of Orlando. The southbound hiker however starts with most of that dry land, and as as they hike south all the water is disappearing.
• Solitude. The lack of people you’ll run into on a sobo thru hike can be a good thing and a bad thing. I personally live for the solitude and cannot even sort of see myself hiking with many others, and so the sobo has been the right choice for me. That said and this can be quite lonely, no one to share a meal with, have a fire with, or talk to. I run into the bubble of northbound hikers over the course of two days, and that is my entire interaction with the rest of the FT thru hikers. A brief passing near the halfway point. Now there is another downside to this and that is safety. There is no question that being in a group or being near a group, or at the very least knowing that another hiker is on the way sooner or later is safer than being totally alone. Whether you get injured, or if you run into some not so friendly locals, safety does come in numbers and that is just not something you will find on a sobo hike. So the solitude can be a good thing, but it’s maybe not for everyone.

The northern and southern terminus of the Florida Trail, one on the beach, and one down in the swamp

Resupply

There is no trail where resupply is more simple. You will never need to hitchhike, you will never need to go more than just a few days between resupply points, and you will almost always have cell service.

This all is part of what makes the Florida Trail extra fun! You are never carrying much weight from food or water, your batteries and phone will always be charged, go into a town and get some beers with friends, then pack out a meal for dinner. You walk right past these stores, and right into these towns. It is about as convenient as it gets.

The one major problem with the resupply here is that the stores all kind of suck. The majority of resupply points on this hike are gas stations, dollar generals, or convenience stores. If you’re planning on hiking the Florida Trail, a fun exercise you can do right now is to go to your local gas station, look at all the products they sell, and ask yourself what could you buy that you would then eat and live off of for the next two or three days. Then imagine doing that for two months. The upside to this is that most of these gas stations sell hot food.

• Resupply (Every time we bought food) // 27
• Shower // 13
• Laundry // 6
• Days without cell // 0
• Zero days // 2
• Hotel // 5

We were on trail for 59 days and resupplied 27 times over the course of our hike. In other words we found ourselves at some kind of a store every other day. It’s kind of incredible. As a little tip here, since you don’t have to carry much food weight, pack out some fancier things that are heavier to cook over a fire, pack out food from a restaurant, or a cold soda to drink at the next break spot. Don’t worry about the weight, and don’t worry about the trash either as you’ll likely find a place to dispose of it tomorrow.

The town of Crestview, White Springs, and then Juniper Springs. Three places we resupplied along the way.

Sending boxes

You don’t need to send boxes on the Florida Trail, you’ll be fine without them given the frequency of stores along the way. There are however two places that are worth considering where I personally send boxes to, and I find that most do as well.

• The first being River Ranch, which is roughly 240 miles into a northbound hike. They have food and plenty of it but it is very expensive as this is essentially a resort store. So I send a box here to avoid spending hundreds of dollars for a few days of not great food, and I think you should do the same!
• The next place to consider is the 88 Store in Ocala National Forest. Situated about 460 miles into a northbound thru hike this store is more of a bar, and the food they have to offer is unbelievably limited. You would be hard pressed to make it very far without a box here unless you just want to eat chips and candy exclusively for a few days, and thus I always send one. (EDIT! Recently I have heard that the 88 Store has closed and can no longer be relied on for food or water! This is very unfortunate as I always felt this was a pivotal location in the middle of a long dry stretch.)

So one of these is about saving money and the other is the limited supply. Both are worth considering, and both are places I personally send a box to. You don’t need either of them if you don’t want though, as I think we all know boxes can be a pain.

Our campsite somewhere in Ocala National Forest, and a bridge down south near Bull Creek.

Roadwalking

The number one complaint about the Florida Trail is that there are too many roads. These complaints aren’t exaggerating sadly, there are a lot of roads. It’s the unfortunate reality of this trail.

At this time roughly 350 miles of the 1,100 mile trail are on dirt or paved roads.

Many of these roadwalks are only a mile or two in length and really just add up over time. There are however a couple much more significant roadwalks, with the longest being 50 miles, and two others being around 30 miles. Typically those long ones aren’t bad as it’s on roads which see little traffic, but over the course of this hike you will see it all.

Roadwalking is not the most fun but there are a handful of upsides to this. One being that roads lead to towns, restaurants, and convenience stores. Sure you’re walking pavement, but it’s maybe nice to know that you’ll also be eating an ice cream, drinking a cold soda, and have a warm chicken sandwich in your backpack while you’re doing it. Take advantage of this and make the most of it!

Not all roads are created equal and fortunately the majority of the roads on the Florida Trail aren’t so bad, there are just a couple which stand out and really stick to memory.

It is worth mentioning that right now every major road section on this entire trail is in the process of being rerouted. The days of roadwalks really are numbered on the FT, and on modern maps of this trail you can even see the proposed reroutes right on them. I can even say from personal experience that every time I have hiked this trail it has had a little less road and a little more trail than each time before.

So for now, enjoy the trail when you have it! Camp in the pretty spots, have a fire, watch the sunset, pack out a beer, have a good time with friends. Then once you get on a road speed through it and look forward to the next section of trail… or feel free to do what many choose to do, and skip ahead! There is a large number of people who hike this trail and skip all of the roads. If in the end the roads are going to sour your experience a great deal, then skipping them is what I would recommend over wasting your time and sanity.

This trail really is great in so many ways, and I hope you make the most of it! I just hate seeing the roads being the sole reason that someone had a bad time.

Dirt roads, no traffic, through some natural area… this is about as ideal as it gets

Some flowers and air plants along the trail. Generally the winter isn’t the time for flowers to bloom but as you hike into spring you’ll see more and more as you go!

Permits

Permits are not a big deal on the Florida Trail which I think adds to the overall appeal of it compared to some other trails. No stress of whether you’ll get to hike or not, and frankly no real advanced planning needed! In the end there are three important permits to be aware of, two of which you can do while on trail, and all of which are very simple! I personally don’t start thinking about permits for this thru hike until the week before.

• Seminole Reservation – Roughly 30 miles from the southern terminus the Florida Trail passes through the Seminole Indian Reservation, and to be able to do this section you must get a permit which states that you will not sue the Seminole Tribe. You fill out a form, you get it notarized, and then you email it to them. You can do all of this at a UPS store as they are certified notaries, and the process only takes 10 minutes. If you are going northbound, you need to get this permit before you go. If you are heading southbound you can get this along the way when in Orlando, Okeechobee, or Clewiston. If you don’t want to do this you could start your thru hike on the Ocean to Lake Trail as that bypasses the reservation. We’ll talk more about that later as the OTL is quite the appealing beginning for other reasons too.
• St Marks National Wildlife Refuge – This is the easiest permit of all. You just email the wildlife preserve saying you’ll be camping on the property at the Ring Dike Levee Camp, specify the date, and you’re done! No worries and can do this just a few days before arriving. It is not possible to hike through this entire section in a single day, so please just do it.
• Eglin Airforce Base – The permit to go through Eglin is absolutely essential. This section is one of the very best of the entire Florida Trail so don’t skip it! The permit in the end is not that difficult, it just kind of looks difficult. Make an iSportsman account, watch a couple funny old safety videos, and then call a phone number to get the permit. You will have to look at a map to check for closures in upcoming areas, but most of the Florida Trail is exempt and you can go through even if it says closed. Overall an amazing stretch of trail, and the permit has never been a problem. If you are going southbound you must get this permit before beginning the trail, as you’ll be entering Eglin on your second or third day. (EDIT! I have recently heard that you may need to get a background check now, on top of the normal permit, if you wish to hike through Eglin. I would be thinking about this before beginning a thru hike as I would have to imagine that it might be hard to do this en-route. There are no good alternative routes to ‘go around’ Eglin other than some really nasty roadwalks, or skipping the section entirely.)

I want to keep this as a brief overview, so you can read more about permits here on the Florida Trail Association website.

Photos from some of the places where permits are required, thankfully none of these are difficult to get

The Ocean to Lake Trail as a Terminus

The Ocean to Lake is a 63 mile hiking trail which starts at the Atlantic Ocean in Hobe Sound Beach, traveling west all the way to Lake Okeechobee where it connects to the Florida National Scenic Trail.

It is a fun time from beginning to end, and I really feel does the state justice. You pass through a plethora of different environments in a very short timespan, and overall I think the whole experience is near perfect. From rolling sand dunes near the coast, oak tree hammocks and cathedrals of palm trees, open wetland prairies, and dense cypress tree swamps. The trail is great and in many ways feels like a miniature Florida Trail, as if you were to condense 1,100 miles into just 60.

I think the Ocean to Lake trail should be an official terminus of the Florida National Scenic Trail, much like how at the north end there are two official ends.

One of the dense Cypress Tree swamps along the Ocean to Lake, though it is dry in these photos often times the water will be up to a hikers knees

Why should this be where you start or end your hike, instead of Big Cypress?

Lets answer that question with a question. What is the number one complaint about the Florida trail? I am sure you’ve seen it brought up many times (including in this article!)…. there are too many roads.

There is no greater reason as to why potential thru hikers might not want to even give the Florida Trail a chance, and unfortunately they aren’t too far off. As it stands now about 35% of the entire Florida Trail is road walking. That is more than 350 miles out of 1,100 which are road or pavement.

So then, would you like to know how to thru hike this trail and experience it to the absolute fullest, and yet remove one hundred miles of road and pavement? Treat the Ocean to Lake as the new southern terminus.

A misty morning in Jonathan Dickinson State Park, near the eastern terminus of the OTL and the beach

The Ocean to Lake Trail makes sense as a southern terminus, it would be a fun terminus, it would be a better terminus, and I think that is where you should consider starting or ending your hike. At the Atlantic Ocean, with your toes in the sand on the beach, in the small town of Hobe Sound.

This is controversial because Big Cypress (the southernmost 30 miles of the Florida Trail) is beloved. It is a very unique section where you are wading through swamp for 30 miles with little break. It is 1mph kind of hiking in water that can be up to your waist. There are thousands upon thousands of air plants hanging from the dwarf cypress trees. You are camping on little dry islands so small that only one or two tents can fit tightly together. It is what most people imagine when they think of the Florida Trail, a big seemingly never ending swamp.

The trouble however is not those 30 miles, I love that section as much as the next person and have done it 6 times myself…. it is what comes immediately after. You finish up that initial swamp, and then you embark on roughly 140 miles of road and pavement.

This is in my opinion a terrible way to begin a thru hike, and a terrible way to end as well. Worse though for those who are heading north as it really sets you off on the wrong foot, and over the years I have seen many people who have quit within the first 200 miles as they think the Florida Trail is just not for them, when really it may just be that this first section is just not for them.

Remember my biggest reason for going southbound year after year? So that I can have a nicer beginning on the beach and hiking through the woods, instead of being on roads and pavement for the first 200 miles? If the Ocean to lake trail was the southern terminus this would no longer even be a question. The roads would be gone, and going northbound would far outweigh southbound in every way.

Various photos from across the 63 mile trail, wild orchids in bloom, rolling sand dunes to traverse, and cypress trees in wetlands

Lets look at this a little closer. If you started with the Ocean to Lake instead of Big Cypress….

• You would be removing 90 miles of road and pavement from your thru hike, and instead that would be replaced by 60 miles of really great trail. Much of the road you would be missing by comparison is through sugar cane farms, not very scenic and the water is so toxic from the agricultural run off you can’t even drink it.
• You would still get to walk around a portion of Lake Okeechobee, but only 30 miles of it instead of 60. And! You would be seeing the most scenic section portion of it on the east side, with great views of the sunset over the lake, and with nice little covered benches every couple of miles. Sounds pretty nice to me! See it and enjoy it, but not overstaying the welcome. A day or two and then you’re done and onto a new environment.
• You would go right past the town of Okeechobee while typically hikers have to go out of their way if they’d like to go there. Easy resupply, full grocery stores, many restaurants, and many hotels.
• Both terminus would now be on the beach, the northern terminus at the Gulf of Mexico, and the Ocean to Lake at the Atlantic. I think this creates a nice cohesive feeling of completion. To end where you began, on the only two beach sections of the entire trail.
• You would simply spend more time on trail, and in the woods. Which I think is what everyone wants who sets off on a long distance hike.

By the numbers, how does the Ocean to Lake stack up against the current route of the Florida Trail?

• The ocean to lake trail would be 60 miles of trail, followed by 30 miles of bike path along Lake Okeechobee, to reconnect with the Florida Trail at the Kissimmee River.
• The current southern terminus to get you to the same point would be 30 miles of trail, followed by 120 miles of road and bike path.
• So overall the full thru hike would be just 30 miles shorter, but would have 30 miles more trail, and 90 miles less road. Sounds great I think!

Over the last decade there has always been a lot of talk about removing the roads, rerouting the trail off roads, trying to acquire land and find new ways that aren’t road…. and here we are! A simple solution to remove 90 miles of road to a trail that already exists, that is maintained by the FTA already, and that is incredible in its own right.

As a little bonus, when the OTL was first being developed it was originally going to be an official arm of the National Scenic Trail, but the idea was scrapped and it just became it’s own thing. Well, now many decades later and maybe it is time.

Standing at the western terminus where the OTL connects to the Florida Trail, and barefoot walking into the beach after finishing my hike

Should you Skateboard the Florida Trail?

The first hiker to thru skate the Florida Trail was Alex Fogt in 2018, and since his initial journey there have been a handful of others. As of 2025 in total roughly seven people have taken to skating instead of road walking. I would definitely say it is becoming a thing!

A big motivator for me to do this trail a third time was to do it with a skateboard! Given that the trail has roughly 350 miles worth of roads, it sounds fun right? Get through the roads faster and in a more enjoyable way. Take the worst part of this trail and make it one of the best parts. With everything said and done I am not so sure that is the case, but we’ll get into that.

In the end we skated a total of 331 miles, and hiked 780 miles. By section our skating can be broken down into what you see below!

• Western Panhandle – 54.5m out of 131 miles
• Eastern Panhandle – 53.5m out of 177 miles
• Suwannee & Big Bend – 53.5m out of 194 miles
• Ocala Northeast – 33.5m out of 194 miles
• Central Florida – 69.5m out of 263 miles
• South Florida – 66.5m out of 150 miles

I would not look at these numbers and assume that’s how many road miles there are per section as that is not the case, I would look at this purely as how many miles were actually skateable. As it turns out, not every road has a good enough surface to where you can ride it, and then many ‘trail’ miles by contrast you can actually skate (like a paved bike paths.) Frankly as we found out, the roads themselves were actually some of the worst miles and walking really would have been better, but we were committed!

The skateboard was a lot of fun, but also came with its complications too. Bike paths in the end turned out to be some of our favorite moments of the entire trail

Overall I very much did enjoy the skateboard, and it made a lot of sections more fun than they ever could be walking. This style of long distance travel definitely has a lot of upsides to it, and it’s no wonder that people have begun flocking to the idea.

• As you know the fastest you can reasonably walk is about 4mph. Well… on a skateboard you can easily go twice that speed, if not more. I was routinely going 10mph whenever I was on the board, and even when I was barely even pushing and just kind of coasting along I was still going about 6mph. This certainly has the potential to get done with paved sections very quickly which is a huge upside.
• Skating really did feel like cheating sometimes, and I mean that in a good way! Many roads had a slight downhill slant to them where for miles sometimes we barely even had to push once, and could just stand there and let the distance fly by. Often I would laugh to myself as to how far we were going without actually putting in any effort at all!
• Bike paths are like a true play ground. No cars, smooth pavement, fast travel, and a lot of fun! Our absolute favorite moments of the thru skate were the bike paths along this trail. Compare this to walking and often times a bike path just feels like roadwalking, but on a skateboard it is a whole different world. I am not exagerrating when I say the 25 mile Orlando bike path was the most fun section of my entire thru hike this year. We sped from restaurant to cafe, to movie theater, to hotel, to fun side trips. It was incredible.
• Instead of dreading road walks to come, as is the reality for many Florida Trail thru hikers, we began looking forward to them! The idea of an upcoming road was almost better than the thought of a cool trail ahead. Though I will admit this might also have to do with the weight and size of carrying the skateboard, and the thought of not having to carry it for a while….

I always tried to keep my skateboard at the ready and easily accessible. Often times I’d come across something brief that I could skate, I wanted to skate it!

So hey! Skating the FT is really cool, but it also came with quite a bit of complications, and I feel like I would be doing any potential thru skater a giant disservice if I did not touch on the downsides of this. So here’s a list of things to consider before you dive in headfirst, not just the bad but a bunch of tips on how you can do this more safely and have more fun!

Tips and Advice for Thru Skating

• Keep the board accessible! Many times you will come across a section of pavement that is just a single mile in length. You want that board at the ready at all times to take advantage of the efficiency in this method and to have more fun! If it takes 10 minutes to prepare the board and to retrieve it, then another 10 to put it away I feel like
• Practice getting on and off the board in a quick and safe way. Many roads have big trucks and no shoulder, and if you are efficient in getting out of their way and getting back on the road quick it will ultimately save you a lot of time and frustration, and it will make the road a safer place for everyone involved! Roads with traffic are ultimately your biggest enemy in this kind of endeavor. Don’t feel pressured to skate them as it can be very dangerous at times. Enjoy the board when you can, but don’t take too big of risks.
• Obviously for this kind of trip you want as lightweight of a board as possible, but you also want to be comfortable riding that board! A penny board seems like a good solution but as I found they are much too small and I feel very unstable on them because of that. Add in that they weigh just about the same as a typical skateboard, and the decision for me was made a lot harder as to not make that my board of choice. A skateboard weighs upwards of 5-6lbs, and frankly that is a lot of weight to add into a backpacking kit for a luxury item which you will be using less than 15% of the total time that you are out there. If I were to do this all over again I would put a lot more time into trying to find a small board that weighs less!
• Get very large and very soft long board wheels. The Orangutan 62mm 80a wheels are what I would recommend. The larger diameter and the softer material of them means that you can roll over a surprising amount of debris without being thrown off the board! This is essential as the variety of surfaces you will encounter is very wide, and you need something that can handle more grit. Even still, be careful!! I took a couple very bad falls which left me with a sprained wrist which three months after still hurts.
• Experiment with different ways of carrying the board. Both my partner and I made our own backpacks for this hike, specifically to carry a skateboard. Funny enough we quickly found that our design was far from the best way and our normal packs would have been much better. I personally liked having my board just strapped to the top of my pack, and even better was having it not strapped down at all and instead resting it directly on my shoulders! It was surprisingly stable this way, surprisingly comfortable, and very quick to access when needed. A skateboard is just a big awkward shape that doesn’t pack easily. Try different methods before you go and you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble, as when it comes down to it you do have to carry it for nearly 800 miles through the woods across varying terrain.
• Grip tape will destroy your gear! Beware of this and try to prevent it. We both used our foam pads to keep the board separated from any fragile fabric. Wrapping the boards in our sleeping pads like a burrito.
• Practice before you go!! If you’re coming into this experience without already being physically used to a skateboard, the chance of injury is very high. Get those miles in, and get comfortable with riding long distances before beginning. Your body may be accustomed to long distance hiking, but is it used to long distance skating? Our first day of the thru skate I immediately got shin splits in just my left leg which I use to push with. So for the entire rest of the trail the skating was actually quite painful, and now many months later and I am still dealing with the problem. Practice practice practice! And of course when you begin, fight the urge to skate every mile and to really slow down and take it easy. Your body will thank you!

I think if you are a life long skater already this really could save you time and add a lot of efficiency to your hike, along with the extra fun of skating new places across an entire state. For everyone else though and I would treat thru skating the Florida Trail as a fun luxury. I wouldn’t expect it to save time, and I would be well aware of the size and weight issue of the board. Pack one that is as small and light as possible, and ride it for fun!

Don’t feel like you have to ride every possible mile that could ever be ridden. That to me is the best recipe. I feel like I was in the middle of the two when I should have leaned much deeper into the fun over efficiency and that overall would have made the journey even better.

The Orlando bike path was a dream with the skateboards, 25 miles of incredible pavement through natural areas and past restaurants. It was fun and very engaging!

Thank you!

Thank you Jo for taking on the thru skate with me!! I really had the most amazing time showing you around the state, cruising the bike paths together, swimming in the springs, and looking for birds. You added such a spark to this hike that I could never have otherwise, and it was incredible to see you progress so much as a skater by the end. The side trips, the camp fires, and the snowstorm… my only regret is not bringing the double quilt

Thank you to Moondog for answering all our questions about skateboard prior to starting this! Moondog did the Florida Trail thru skate in 2021 and has gone on to do some other very amazing trips which combine hiking and skateboarding. He is the one who I think coined the phrase and is really pushing the boundaries of this style. You can find him on instagram here.

Thank you to the Florida Trail Association! I feel like they are in a better place now than ever before, and it really makes me happy to see this trail change so much over the years for the better. The new bridges and boardwalks, the reroutes to get the trail off the road and into the woods. The Florida Trail is such a hidden gem, and I hope it continues to grow. I think it has such incredible potential to be one of the best in the country. Anyone reading this who would like to help the FT or anyone who is planning to hike the FT, please consider becoming a member of the FTA! It goes such a long way.