My friends Bill and Ginny are planning a trip to Zolfo Springs.
For those of you who have no idea where this is, it’s a quiet place in the middle of South Central Florida, about an hour east of Bradenton and a half hour north of Arcadia, in Hardee County.
The Peace River flows through here, past Pioneer Park, where all the tent spaces have a nice view of the river.
So, Bill’s question is:
Are there any hikes in that area? If so, do any of your books describe hikes in that area?
At the time I worked on Hiker’s Guide to the Sunshine State, I knew of only one place you could hike in Hardee and DeSoto Counties. Since then, I’ve poked around a little more.
Close to Zolfo Springs, there are two parks with short nature trails:
- Horse Creek Nature Trail at Solomon’s Castle, Ona. Private, but free to walk during operating hours.
- Nature Trail at Brownville Park, just north of Arcadia off US 17. It was flooded when I visited.
Farther afield … and in that region, yes, you do have to drive a ways to get places … are these hikes:
- Paynes Creek Historic State Park (50 Hikes in South Florida), Bowling Green
- Duette Preserve, Bradenton
- Rye Preserve (Hiker’s Guide), Parrish
- Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton
- Myakka River State Park (50 Hikes in South Florida), Sarasota
- Carlton Reserve (Hiker’s Guide), Venice
- Highlands Hammock State Park (50 Hikes in South Florida), Sebring
- Sun n’ Lake Preserve (Hikers Guide), Sebring
- Lake June-in-Winter Scrub Preserve State Park (50 Hikes in South Florida), Lake Placid
- RV Griffin Reserve, Lake Suzy
- Deep Creek Preserve, Lake Suzy
I hope that gives you enough to explore!