A few years ago, I spent a couple of weeks in Miami with my parents. My parents like to hike so, after a couple of days on the beach, we decided Florida’s stellar hiking trails were calling us, and off we set.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park
This park is on the banks of the Loxahatchee River and has some great trails, all mapped out for you by the Florida Trail Association. The trails are all looped trails, so eventually you’ll end up back where you started, but meanwhile you’ll see some lovely mangroves, swamp land and pine woods. You can also camp here in the designated camping areas. Some of the trails are also board walked, which makes hiking easy. You can concentrate on the beauty around you instead of worrying where you’re putting your feet.

South Fork St. Lucie Hiking Trail
This trail is about two and a half miles long, but what makes this trail really cool is it’s a hiking-canoe trail that can only be accessed by canoe (at least at the moment, though that’s likely to change in the future, so try it out soon). You get to the hiking trail by first paddling your canoe for around three miles, then get out at the trailhead. All along the canoe trail and into the hiking trail you’re likely to see turtles and alligators. Make sure you watch where you’re stepping though as alligators in Florida have been known to eat people.

Corbett Hiking Trail in Palm Beach County
The Corbett Hiking Trail is a bit further out but well worth going to. It’s 16 miles long, which is more than 30 miles if you do the round trip, and goes over flatlands, wetlands and into copious amounts of saw palmetto, the famous Florida fan palm. You’ll see a lot of wildlife on the Corbett Hiking Trail. River otters, white-tailed deer, bobcats, woodpeckers, herons and many other species have been spotted from Corbett Trail. The trail also has a 1.2 mile boardwalk, which is a great place to stop, take a rest and check out what might be lurking in the undergrowth. The best time for the most sightings is usually either early morning or late afternoon, when the trail is quieter. Make sure you take your camera too.

Miami doesn’t have to be about a flashy lifestyle or a nice tan, it can also be about getting out into nature and trying one of the Miami areas’ many hiking trails.