Refresh, recharge, and relax—walk a forest path where longleaf pines reach to the clear blue sky, their scent rising from damp needles pressed down by each footfall. The forest is alive with the chirps of birds and the knock of a red-cockaded woodpecker on a tall tree. It is morning in the Osceola National Forest on the Nice Wander Trail, a gentle introduction to the longleaf pine forest along the Florida National Scenic Trail.

More than just a 1,400-mile footpath the length of Florida, from the haunting cypress strands of Big Cypress National Preserve in the southern peninsula to the glittering white sand beaches of Gulf Islands National Seashore in the western Panhandle, the Florida Trail provides glimpses into Florida’s vast variety of habitats. Connecting Florida’s natural lands, the trail provides hikers with the opportunity to observe nature up close, opening a window into the delights of Florida’s outdoors.

For lovers of botanical wonders, the Apalachicola National Forest is a delight. Follow the Florida Trail from Camel Lake into the pitcher plant savannas surrounding Memery Island. You’ll get your feet wet, but these bogs provide a close-up look at rare trumpet-leaf pitcher plants (S. flava) in full drapery of yellow blossoms each spring. As the Florida Trail follows the Ochlocknee River, it traces the edges of steephead ravines where the rare Florida anise blooms. Along the Sopchoppy River, enjoy the sweet fragrance of Florida azaleas as the Florida Trail crosses numerous bridges across azalea-lined tributaries. And in the swampy Bradwell Bay Wilderness – best explored on a guided Florida Trail Association activity – hikers encounter a hidden stand of virgin loblolly pine, protected from logging by the natural moat of bogs and deep water surrounding it.

As the Florida Trail winds through the Osceola National Forest for 20 miles, it leads hikers through a habitat closely associated with Florida’s post-statehood settlement—the pine flatwoods. Once an unbroken blanket covering the lowlands of the Southeast, longleaf pine forests were tapped for naval stores (turpentine and gum) and then logged for lumber. In the Osceola, selective timber removal continues, but the stands of replanted pines adjoin tracts of old-growth longleaf pines. As you walk the Florida Trail, notice the white stripes painted around tall old longleaf pines. These mark the nests of red-cockaded woodpeckers, a species entirely dependent on old-growth forests for its survival. It nests only in the heartwood of a longleaf pine 70 years old or more. Early morning hikers will catch the early birds busy at work.

In the Ocala National Forest, hikers immerse in one of the world’s most interesting mosaics of habitats, the Big Scrub. Scrub is Florida’s desert, where ancient sand dunes support an array of unique plants, from Florida rosemary to spike moss and earthstars. Dense with short-lived sand pine, the scrub relies on fire to rejuvenate. The Florida Trail through the Juniper Prairie Wilderness provides an excellent introduction to the Big Scrub. As you walk through the wilderness, take in its complexity—grassy prairies with ponds; fern-lined creeks, fed by rainfall and bubbling springs; shady hammocks with a dense understory of saw palmetto; stands of longleaf pines above a soft mist of wiregrass; and the sandy scrub, where near Hidden Pond you’ll find a young scrub forest of oaks rising five to ten feet tall, providing ideal habitat for the Florida scrub-jay. Endemic to Florida, this threatened species numbers less than 10,000 individuals, with most of the state’s population concentrated in the Ocala National Forest. It’s a friendly and curious bird, eight inches tall and cloaked in bright blue and white, and will certainly catch your attention.

The Ocala National Forest is where it all began for the Florida Trail, when in October 1966 Florida Trail Association founder Jim Kern and a handful of volunteers painted the first blazes from Clearwater Lake Recreation Area north towards Alexander Springs. In 1983, the Florida Trail was designated one of only eight National Scenic Trails by the United States Congress, and came under the management of the USDA Forest Service.

Since 1966, the volunteers of the Florida Trail Association have pursued a goal of completing the Florida Trail across Florida, linking the state’s more than 80 natural habitats by conserving a wilderness corridor in which you, the hiker, can contemplate the natural wonders of Florida. Nearly 5,000 members strong, the Florida Trail Association provides a rallying point for Florida’s hikers, a place to join with friends to hike and socialize and to give back to the Trail by helping to build and maintain footpaths. Working with partnership with the USDA Forest Service, the Florida Trail Association encourages the appreciation and conservation of the natural beauty of Florida along Florida’s Footpath Forever. For more information on the Florida Trail, visit www.floridatrail.org or call 877-HIKE-FLA.

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