Check out our chapter websites and Meetup groups for activities in your area. Visit the Chapters page, scroll down to the bottom and look for your county. Click on the chapter for a county to go to its web page. Florida Trail Association activities include day hikes, backpacking trips, canoeing and kayaking, bicycling, picnics, and campouts. Day hikes may focus on birding, plant identification, geocaching or historic sites. Most activities are held locally, but some chapters travel to other parts of the state or out of state for extended trips. However you like to enjoy the great outdoors, there's a Florida Trail activity for you!
Known for its great bass fishing and cattle ranching heritage, Okeechobee developed as a frontier town along the shores of the state’s largest lake. The Florida Trail passes through this popular destination along the Herbert Hoover Dike overlooking Lake Okeechobee. Hungry hikers appreciate the excellent steaks and seafood found at locally owned eateries, and the opportunity to watch splendid sunrises along the shore.
On December 25, 1837, 400 Seminole warriors led by Abiaka (Sam Jones) took positions in a hammock surrounded by sawgrass as Colonel Zachary Taylor’s 800 troops struggled along the edge of Lake Okeechobee. In the ambush, Taylor’s men suffered twice as many casualties and ten times the wounded as the Seminoles, who eventually retreated. By 1896, early Florida pioneers established homesteads along Taylor Creek, several miles north of the lake. As the Florida East Coast railroad extended into the area in 1910, the original village name of Tantie wasn’t deemed “suitable enough,” so the post office was named Okeechobee. A mural on the side of the original 1926 high school gymnasium (now the Okeechobee Freshman Campus) at 610 SW 2nd Ave gives a pictorial overview of Okeechobee history.
Around Lake Okeechobee, the Florida Trail is atop the Herbert Hoover Dike, circling the second-largest freshwater lake entirely within the United States. Completed in 1937, this flood control structure was built by the Army corps of Engineers in response to a 1928 hurricane that created a tidal wave that destroyed the towns anong the south edge of the lake. Before the dike was built, Lake Okeechobee’s waters flowed directly into the Everglades “river of grass,” which was drained to create agricultural lands that now support sugar cane as a major crop. The trail stays on top of the open levee with few exceptions, mainly to skirt locks and dams. There are covered benches for rest stops, designated campsites with fire ring, picnic bench and easy access to water; and plenty of opportunities to visit trail towns for groceries, lodgings and great meals at bargain prices. Enjoy fabulous views across Florida’s inland sea. The Office of Greenways and Trails has paved this section of trail over the past several years. Be alert for bicyclists, service vehicles and snakes sunning on the hot surface.
Henry Creek. Water control structure G-36, canal and lock, trailhead parking off US 441. To access US 441, walk downhill, cross bridge, walk 0.2 mile north.
Nubbin Slough lock & launch. Trailhead parking off US 441. To access US 441, walk down dike, cross bridge, walk 0.2 mile to highway.
Taylor Creek. Access via south side of Taylor Creek through fish camp or north side through RV park. No parking.
Parrott Ave Wayside. At the junction of US 441 and SR 78. Ample parking. Fishing and observation pier.
SR 78 Okee-Tantie. Junction of Big O route and northern route of Florida Trail. Park by kiosk or at Okee-Tantie Recreation Area. Restaurant, camping, marina store with ice cream. SR 70. FT crosses SR 70. Trail crossing 10 miles west of Okeechobee. No parking.
KOA Okeechobee US 441 S, 1/2 mi N of the FT (863-763-0231) Laundry, pool, hot tub. Identify yourself as a Big O hiker http://www.koa.com/where/fl/09325/
The Association 
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On December 25, 1837, 400 Seminole warriors led by Abiaka (Sam Jones) took positions in a hammock surrounded by sawgrass as Colonel Zachary Taylor’s 800 troops struggled along the edge of Lake Okeechobee. In the ambush, Taylor’s men suffered twice as many casualties and ten times the wounded as the Seminoles, who eventually retreated. By 1896, early Florida pioneers established homesteads along Taylor Creek, several miles north of the lake. As the Florida East Coast railroad extended into the area in 1910, the original village name of Tantie wasn’t deemed “suitable enough,” so the post office was named Okeechobee. A mural on the side of the original 1926 high school gymnasium (now the Okeechobee Freshman Campus) at 610 SW 2nd Ave gives a pictorial overview of Okeechobee history. 
Around Lake Okeechobee, the Florida Trail is atop the Herbert Hoover Dike, circling the second-largest freshwater lake entirely within the United States. Completed in 1937, this flood control structure was built by the Army corps of Engineers in response to a 1928 hurricane that created a tidal wave that destroyed the towns anong the south edge of the lake. Before the dike was built, Lake Okeechobee’s waters flowed directly into the Everglades “river of grass,” which was drained to create agricultural lands that now support sugar cane as a major crop. The trail stays on top of the open levee with few exceptions, mainly to skirt locks and dams. There are covered benches for rest stops, designated campsites with fire ring, picnic bench and easy access to water; and plenty of opportunities to visit trail towns for groceries, lodgings and great meals at bargain prices. Enjoy fabulous views across Florida’s inland sea. The Office of Greenways and Trails has paved this section of trail over the past several years. Be alert for bicyclists, service vehicles and snakes sunning on the hot surface. 
