This place is amazing, sometimes a little scary, the alligators will be all around you, but…read moreabsolutely amazing!!!

We saw a lot of wildlife including massive gators, rabbits and a raccoon and tons of different…read morebirds. It was very peaceful.

Great trails to explore with your dogs! I believe you can also bring horses as well, the non paved…read moretrails are wide and cleared out, the ground is also soft with no rocks, however, the trails out there can get muddy when it rains.

I love the park to walk in. It is quiet and serine. It's pet friendly on a leash and you have a few…read moreoptions to choose on paths. It is isolated so I would recommend walking with a buddy.

Wow! What a breath of fresh air this nature preserve can be when you are sick of the craziness of…read moreeveryday life. This park includes a visitor's center, multiple hiking trails, and a cute garden area with a gopher tortoise and salcutta tortoise living their best lives. Make sure to check out the Osprey Overlook as there is a boardwalk that overlooks a large lake with plenty of opportunity to see wildlife including otters, gators, and turtles. Honestly, I feel like this is the one park in Orlando where you can actually go hiking. All of the trails here are on mossy/swampy forest floor with no paved walkways. This is good to keep in mind if you are trying to rollerblade or bike ride as there are multiple tree roots on the trails, so probably best to leave these items at home and witch to trail shoes. This also means that some of the trails may be washed out when you visit, especially if going in the summer months. Actually, I would recommend skipping a visit if it has rained less than 24 hours before going as you will not be able to see as much as you would like. Overall, there is easy parking, great hiking, and excellent photo opportunities. Worth a trip if you are in the Orlando area!

You better think twice before you wear your favorite hiking shoes cause things might get a little…read moremuddy! During rainy season some of the trails even close down due to flooding. But for the most of the year this preserve is about three miles of nice, flat hiking. We even spotted some osprey and a tortoise sunbathing in the middle of the trail on the way out.

I love camping here! It is magical. We just don't love that the trails are closed off. So far we've…read morecamped here twice using the electric and water. In the summer we were in loop 1 and recently we grabbed a last minute spot in loop 2. Even though there were so many folks we still had a great experience. The dogs love that park. There is a 13 mile trail that is in and out and that would take us way too long especially with the heat. We adore this spot and will be back!!!

I love going to Hillsborough River State Park in Thonotosassa. We regurlarly enjoy its hiking…read moretrails, (we usually combined them all for a good for a 7 miles haul). The trails are tranquil and vary in difficulty from easy to somewhat hard. Along the way there are plenty of opportunities to watch the animal life of the area and capture them in photographs. There a plenty of benches and little nooks where to rest along the way, some good enough to enjoy a picnic! Besides hiking this park offers all kinds of amenities such as camping- (all, including glamping), biciclying, horseback riding, fishing, and canoe/kayak launching. There is a historical fort and grounds within but currently close for renovations, (I believe it is scheduled to open in November). At Hillsborough River State Park there is plenty to do to enjoy a great day outdoors!

Tiger creek was a beautiful hiking area provide extremely well marked trial blazes and ever…read morechanging ecosystems along it's hike as well as amazing demonstrations of succession (post prescribed burn growth) in some areas. Trails can be taken in chunks or as one long loop of about 10-13 miles. I'd be sure to pick a cloudy cool day these trails would be very warm otherwise

One of the most beautiful preserves in Central Florida. Tiger Creek sits high on the ridge. Trails…read morecover rolling hills of Sandhills, Oak Hammocks and bay heads. Long and short trails provide views of rare native plants, swaths of wild flowers, and small grassy lakes. I love it here and try to make it once or twice a month to see the seasons unfold. Eagles and swallow tailed kites nest here. Both bears and panthers have been found here. Tiger Creek has a range of hikes to offer. The trails are well marked ( travel from blaze to blaze and ignore the unmarked fire access roads). It's charms are subtle but well worth a visit.

Awesome hike. Just be sure to take note that however far you walk away from your car, you have to…read morewalk that same distance back lol

Absolutely so beautiful. Perfect spot to catch a sunset. Grab fresh air and just enjoy life!read more

Completed a 4.9 mile morning run at Blackwater Creek Preserve. Great nature trail for a good walk…read moreor run. Midway point through the trail you can enjoy the creek and sit for a good rest and possible deer sighting before finishing up.

This preserve is great for hikers and horseback riding. It is more aimed at equestrian, but there…read moreare nice trails to hike. The parking lot is huge and there is a shady picnic table and maps of the trails. The trails don't have the best shade so it's better to go when it is cooler or the sun is not as bright. At the end of the yellow trail there is a small creek with cool flowing water which can offer some relief for dogs that like water, mine relaxed in it for a while and really enjoyed it. There is a bench along the trail to rest if needed and water for horses. We saw lots of butterflies and some turtles while we were there. There was a sign warning if high water on all of the trails, but we didn't encounter any or even get our feet wet. Overall this is a nice park for hikers or people with dogs or horses, I would recommend visiting once the weather cools off.

Great place I live right down the road go almost every day it's a beautiful place with many…read moredifferent trails would definitely recommend

This is a beautiful park!!! They have bathrooms, pavilions for picnics. air pump for bike tires,…read moresun screen dispenser and more. There is plenty of parking and the trails are well maintained. I enjoyed the view from the look out tower and appreciated plenty of signage along the way.

This is one of my favorite trails in the area that a lot of people don't really know about. It is…read morean easy pathway to walk and varies from gravel to paved and then even into just grass. You do need to watch the weather because if you're trying to do the loop it can get a little too marshy back there to make it possible. Bring bug spray. The horseflies almost carried me away. If you'd like to look at nature and just get outside and walk this is a great spot to do it. Watch your footing because some of the spots do get a little slick.

Kicking off the new year on a new trail - and it was a great one! This trail is part of the Majorie…read moreHarris Carr Cross Florida Greenway that stretches from the Gulf to the St Johns River, the Greenway is a Florida State Park. This address takes you to the Landbridge Trailhead (approximately 1.4 miles NE of the actual I-75 Landbridge) and has separate parking and trails for equestrians -vs- hikers and bikers which is nice. There are bathrooms, a water bottle filler, a bike wash station, a few picnic tables, a bike tool station (although the air hose was cut) and all of it very well maintained given the impressive number of acres. The mountain bike trail intersected the paved trail so when we had enough bumps (hello, beginner here?!) we could take the paved trail a little while longer and all the back, thank goodness.

Came here for the first time this past weekend and really enjoyed it. We will definitely be coming…read moreback. At this trailhead, there is PLENTY of parking (when you pull in go to the right - it goes around a corner and there is where you'll see a couple of parking lots). There are bathrooms, a water fountain, and trail map here at the trailhead. You can choose a couple different trails - going to the right is a 3.5 mile hike (one way - so there and back is 7 total) that goes over to the 49th ave trailhead or to the left goes to Santos (7 mile one way). We went with Santos. Things were pretty clearly marked; however we somehow ended up on the bike trail at some point (there were 4 of us and we were busy in conversation so ya know, it happens lol), but was easy enough to make our way back so our 7 miles turned in to about 8-8.5. Worked out great because we ended up coming out where Santos Bike Shop is and took a Lyft/Uber back to our car at the trailhead. The bike shop was great, super nice people, plenty of knowledge in there. The trail itself is shaded for the most part, sun creeps in, but it's definitely shaded with all the trees. We saw a LOT of cool looking trees. I'm a big fan of being able to explore Florida (free is even better) so it's nice to be able to go out on the trails without having to pay to get in to parks or for parking or what not. If you have bikes, this is a GREAT trail to come to - the trails are separate as far as bike friendly and people hiking friendly which is nice for both parties. We really enjoyed and can't wait to visit again.