FLORIDA

Florida has a number of trails with minimal obstacles.  Some are very easy and others are wheelchair accessible.  Here are just a few of them.
Most of the links given were found through Internet search. Some places I have been able to visit and a few have been recommended to me by other people who have been there. With your help, we can share our knowledge with disabled people everywhere and also increase awareness of the need for more accessibility. Please e-mail me with your suggestions using the form in the sidebar.

Federal
State
Local
Private
Miscellaneous

Federal

• Desoto National Memorial
  “De Soto National Memorial, in Manatee County 5 miles west of Bradenton, Florida, commemorates the 1539 landing of Hernando de Soto and the first extensive organized exploration by Europeans of what is now the southern United States. The memorial includes 26 acres, where the Manatee River joins Tampa Bay.”  (from Wikipedia)   Thank you Diane McConnell for letting me know about this park.  She writes that the crushed shell trails through mangroves are wide and flat.
  “A visitor to De Soto National Memorial can quickly experience four distinct natural ecosystems along the park’s half mile nature trail. The park is situated along the south shore of the Manatee River at the mouth of Tampa Bay. The Bay is a subtropical estuary consisting of open water and a mixture of mangrove and salt marsh vegetation in the tidal zone.”  Map  Phone 941-792-0458 x105     Website

  The Nature Trail winds along the shoreline and through several Florida ecosystems, including a mangrove forest like the one that De Soto’s men would have encountered when they landed. Trails include interpretive signage and waysides that tell the story of the De Soto Expedition and the natural history of the area.

  Covid restrictions as of March 2020: “De Soto National Memorial’s parking lot, nature trails, and restroom facilities are open. The Visitor Center remains closed. ”

• Everglades National Park
  The Everglades spans across 1.5 million acres that stretches over the southern part of Florida. There are three main areas. The northern section of the park is accessible via Miami or Everglades City, the southern section is accessible through Homestead.  The three entrances are not connected.  The Everglades has a “vast diversity of flora and fauna in different eco-systems: freshwater sloughs, marl prairies, tropical hammocks, pineland, cypress, mangrove, coastal lowlands, marine, and estuarine.”
  Gulf Coast Visitor Center Phone 239-695-3311  As of November, 2017 the center is closed because of damage from Hurricane Irma.  Call to learn current status.
  Flamingo Visitor Center   Phone 239-695-2945  As of November, 2017 the center is partially closed because of damage from Hurricane Irma. Call to learn current status.
  Shark Valley Visitor Center  Phone 305-221-8776 As of November, 2017 the center is closed because of flooding from Hurricane Irma. Call to learn current status.
  Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center  Phone 305-242-7700      

  Facilities, including trails for mobility-impaired visitors.
  Information for sight-impaired visitors.

  Anhinga Trail  0.8 mile round trip “…self-guiding trail winds through a sawgrass marsh, where you may see alligators, turtles, anhingas, herons, egrets, and many other birds, especially during the winter. This is one the most popular trails in the park because of its abundance of wildlife.”
  Gumbo Limbo Trail  0.4 round trip “… self-guiding, paved trail meanders through a shaded, jungle-like hammock of gumbo limbo trees (Bursera simaruba), royal palms (Roystonea elata), ferns, and air plants.”
  Pineland Trail  0.4 mile trail trail “loops through a forest of pines, palmettos, and wildflowers.”
  Pahayokee Overlook  a 0.16 mile boardwalk loop

  Mahogany Hammock Trail  0.5 mile “self-guiding boardwalk trail meanders through a dense, jungle-like hardwook “hammock.” Lush vegetation includes gumbo-limbo trees, air plants, and the largest living mahogany tree (Swietenia mahogani) in the United States.”
  West Lake Trail  .05 mile  “self-guided boardwalk trail wanders through a forest of white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), black mangrove (Avicennia nitida), red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), and buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) trees to the edge of West Lake.”
  Bobcat Boardwalk Trail  0.5 mile “self-guided boardwalk trail that meanders through the sawgrass slough and tropical hardwood forests.”

• Gulf Islands National Seashore.
  The hurricanes of 2017 may have done considerable damage to these areas.  Call before going. Phone 850-934-2600
  The islands  in the northern Gulf of Mexico offer white sandy beaches and  aquamarine waters.  Come for boating, camping exploring an old fort or to fish.
  “Visitors can plan their trip to either the Florida District or to the Mississippi District. Each district provides recreation, barrier islands, salt marshes, historic structures and wildlife along the Gulf of Mexico.”   Accessibility         Loaner wheelchairs are available in both districts.  Here is their website. 
  Florida:
  “Perdido Key Discovery Trail and six beach cross-over boardwalks (two to sound; four to Gulf) are wheelchair accessible.”  call 850-934-2600 for more information.  Fort Pickens fishing pier is accessible.
  Naval Live Oaks   The first loop of the 0.8 mile Breckenridge Trail is an “accessible boardwalk with tactile waysides.”
  Mississippi:
  The Davis Bayou Trail takes visitors through a coastal forest and over two local bayous. The trail is approximately two miles long. AllTrails describes it as “good for all skill levels.”
  The short boardwalk over Stark Bayou is the only part of the trail that is wheelchair accessible.
  “Boardwalk trails, campsites and fishing pier are accessible.”  For information call Davis Bayou Visitor center at 228-875-9057.

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State

• Florida State Parks Accessible facilities.  A number of state parks are listed as having accessible trails.  However, most of the links do not work and even when they do, there are few description of the trails.

• Florida Tech Botanical Garden – accessible, easy
  The over twenty acre botanical garden at Florida Tech in Melbourne is free and open to the public.  There are more than 200 palms, bamboos and many other plants amidst winding streams in this lush setting.   Michelle Mulak in Florida Today writes that, “The trail has both paved and unpaved sections, with some small bridges and uneven terrain. When dry, this would be suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. When wet, wooden surfaces become slippery, and low-lying sections will flood. Most of the trail is shaded.”  Thank you to Bill Blevins for letting us know about the garden.   Phone 321-674-803  Virtual Tour   Map
  Their website    Description and Self Guided Tour at plantsmap.com.
  1.25 mile  Dent Smith Trail.  See comment above about the trail when it is wet.

• Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park
  Tarkiln Bayou Preserve empties into Perdido Bay.  It is “home to four species of endangered pitcher plants, as well as other rare and endangered plant species and.  Almost 100 rare plants and animals depend on the wet prairie habitat, including the alligator snapping turtle, sweet pitcher plant, and Chapman’s butterwort.”  Phone 850-492-1595  Here is their website.
  Tarkiln Bayou Trail  0.5mile ADA accessible trail.  “The sidewalk and elevated boardwalk of this trail meanders through prairie, cypress and titi forests.  Benches along the trail provide areas for reflection.  When the trail ends, the observation area provides a scenic view of the bayou.”

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Local

• Joan M. Durante Community Park

  ?   Joan M. Durante Park, is a 32 acre site on Sarasota Bay two miles from the north end of Longboat Key.    “The park is the result of a private/public partnership to enhance and restore one of the few remaining vacant island properties on Longboat Key to a viable wetland and coastal hammock forest.”  Thank you to Diane McConnell who wrote that the park is a “lovely walk through mangroves and along Sarasota Bay with lookouts and lots of benches.  Paths are crushed hard shell or wood.  No stairs….”   Phone 941-316-1988 or call Longboat Key at 941-316-1999

• Altamonte Springs -Lake Lotus Park
  Lake Lotus Park is s a 150 acre nature preserve in Altamonte Springs.  It is open Thursdays through Sundays.
  There is a mile long boardwalk, but no description of how easy it is to get on and off.  A shuttle from the parking lot to the heart of the park runs every 45 minutes, but again, no mention as to whether it can accommodate wheelchairs.  Better call before you go.  Here is a description from Florida Hikes.  Reviews on Yelp.  Phone 407-293-8885  This is Altamonte Springs’ website.   Lake Lotus Park

• Pinellas County  Phone 727-582-2100
  John Chestnut Sr. Park
  Peggy Park Nature Trail is a self-guided nature trail on an elevated boardwalk with a guide cable and Braille interpretive signs.

  Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail is a linear park and recreation trail currently extending from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs along an abandoned railroad corridor.

• Robinson Nature Preserve
  “Robinson Preserve is located in northwest Bradenton…. Including the recently acquired “Expansion” and Winston tract properties, the preserve now consists of 682 acres that is a mix of preserved mangrove, tidal marsh, and former agricultural lands which have undergone an incredible transformation  to coastal wetland habitat.”  “Bike or roller blade on 2.5 miles of paved trail, and hikers can explore more than 5 miles of shell and coastal trails.” Thank you to Diane McConnell for bringing this park to my attention.  Here is the park website.  Brochure   Phone 941-742-5923
  There is one paved trail that begins at the entrance of Robinson Preserve and traverses the entire preserve ending at Manatee Avenue.  Most of the trails are packed shell through the preserve.  Please help to protect the habitat and resident wildlife by remaining on designated trails at all times.

• Volusia County  Phone 386-239-7873
  These beaches do not offer the kind of natural trails this website is really about, but they do offer facilities for disabled visitors.
  Daytona Beach  Accessibility   Phone 386-255-0415  Wheelchairs

  New Smyrna Beach  Brochure

  Smyrna Dunes Park in New Smyrna Beach (Volusia County)
  This park has “… over 2 miles of boardwalk with views of the Indian River, Ponce Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean. A great view of the lighthouse while walking. Meet other dog lovers and see a wide variety of animals, birds, reptiles, marine life and vegetation in their natural habitat. Note: pets must be leashed at all times.”  This quote is from the New Smryna Beach Visitors Center site.  Phone 386-424-2935.

• West Palm Beach Parks and Recreation
  Grassy Waters Preserve of West Palm Beach has accessible trails.  The Preserve is a 23 square mile “remnant of the once great Everglades system.  A mosaic of wetlands, tree islands, and forested hammocks, Grassy Waters Preserve is home to a variety of native wildlife.”   There are a number of attractive-sounding trails.  Trail System    Call for trail conditions: 561-804-4985  Here are the websites for Grassy Waters and for West Palm Beach Parks and Recreation.
   Cypress Boardwalk Trail 1 mile round trip through marsh and cypress swamp.  It is “wheelchair and stroller friendly”.  Brochure
  ? Hog Hammock Trail 4.23 miles round trip crushed concrete with intermittent boardwalks through “…restored and natural wetland communities including cabbage palm hammock, mesic pine flatwoods, forrested wetlands, and cypress domes.” Brochure
  Apoxee Trail 0.5 miles connecting to other trails, which may be easy depending on trail conditions.  Brochure

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Private

• Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary 
  Corkscrew swamp sanctuary is a 14,000 acre wildlife sanctuary near Naples, Florida.  It contains the largest remaining Bald Cypress Forest in North America.
  Accessibility as described on tripadvisor   and on   Disabled Travel on VisitFlorida
  Here is their website.  The sanctuary was founded in 1954 and is an Audubon Society property.  Here is Audubon’s website about Corkscrew.  Phone 239-348-9151
   A 2.25 mile boardwalk goes through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, around a marsh, and into the old growth Bald Cypress.    There is also another, one mile, boardwalk.
  As of November, 2017: “Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has reopened after Hurricane Irma and we are offering a reduced admission price of $10 for adults and children under 18 are FREE. The boardwalk experience includes the short loop as we continue to repair the additional boardwalk areas.”

• 

  Gatorland
  Gatorland in Orlando is described by one reviewer at Trip Advisor as “very wheelchair friendly.” Gatorland plans to have zip line starting in the fall of 2014 that will allow visitors with lower-body disabilities to glide over the alligators.  Here is their website.  Phone 407-885-5496   Map

  Thank you Cathy and Gordon Illg for the great photo.

• St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
  The St. Augustine Alligator Farm has every living species of crocodilian.  In addition they have a wide range of other animals from around the world.  Not exactly a contemplative nature walk, but it looks like fun.  Here is a description of the birds there from Florida Birding Trail.  Great place for photography.
  Here are some rave reviews from from Trip Advisor and others.  This is their website.   Map   Phone 904-824-3337
  The whole park is wheelchair accessible.  Children and adults in wheelchairs are half price and seniors, AAA and military get a 10% discount.
  This shot of their boardwalk is thanks to photographers Gordon and Cathy Illg.

  

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Miscellaneous

• Disabled Travel Florida  VisitFlorida.com has a helpful list with links to 19 travel destinations in Florida accessible to disabled travelers.

• Thanks to Susan Friend of Florida Hikes for recommendations of great accessible trails in Florida.

• Florida Hikes!, an excellent, long list with links and brief descriptions, of accessible trails in Florida.  In fact, the Florida Hikes! website is an outstanding source of information for trails of all kinds in Florida.  They have also produced a guidebook The Florida Trails Guide.

• Nature For The Blind has a directory of Braille trails for almost every state in the US and for many other countries.

• Here is a map of nature trails throughout Florida from Florida Hikes!  They are all “an easy mile or less.”  Each icon links to a photo and brief description.

• The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy lists wheelchair accessible trails in Florida.

• 

  The Wakodahatchee Wetllands in Palm Beach County has some barrier free boardwalks and is a great place for birding and bird photography.  Admission is free.  It is part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.  

• Wheelchairtraveling.com  is an outstanding resource.

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