River Ranch

The Florida Trail is one of eleven National Scenic Trails in the United States. It currently runs 1,500 miles (2,400 km), from Big Cypress National Preserve (between Miami and Naples, Florida along the Tamiami Trail) to Fort Pickens at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola Beach. Also known as the Florida National Scenic Trail (which applies only to its federally certified segments), the Florida Trail provides permanent non-motorized recreation opportunity for hiking and other compatible activities and is within an hour of most Floridians. The Florida National Scenic Trail is designated as a National Scenic Trail by the National Trails System Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-543). With its first blaze marked by members of the Florida Trail Association at Clearwater Lake Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest, the Florida Trail began on October 29, 1966. The Florida Trail was officially designated as a National Scenic Trail in 1983. The U.S. Forest Service, through the National Forests in Florida program, is the official administrator of the Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST), but trail development, maintenance, and management are a result of volunteers and land managers throughout the state. History In the early 1960s, Miami resident Jim Kern headed to North Carolina with his brother for a hike on the Appalachian Trail. Returning to Florida and knowing there was nowhere near his home to go backpacking, he envisioned a 500-mile (800 km) hiking trail across Florida. He founded the Florida Trail Association and encouraged members to join him in the vision of creating a trail across the state. His initial hike, a media event for the Miami Herald, took him from the wilds of Big Cypress to Highlands Hammock State Park near Sebring. By October 1966, Kern had spoken with the managers of the Ocala National Forest and received permission to start blazing a hiking trail. After a feasibility study, the trail was officially designated in 1983 as a National Scenic Trail. The Florida Trail has been underway as a volunteer-driven construction project ever since. Like many other National Scenic Trails, the Florida Trail has been built in disconnected segments, created in a corridor where public land (or easements granted by private individuals) is available to route the trail.

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