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Florida - The Endless Coast
Florida is a tropical paradise that is intimately connected to water.
Breathtaking marine landscapes fill the vista or reside just beyond
the horizon, no matter where you travel. With the exception of the
state's northern border, Florida is surrounded by water, with
no locale farther than 160 kilometres from the sea: the Gulf of Mexico
to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Caribbean Sea
just beyond its southern tip. Even Florida's interior nurtures
a complex network of waterways — 7,800 lakes, 30 major rivers,
plus countless wetlands, marshes and springs — that make the
Sunshine State a unique paddling destination. Now, the new Florida
Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail
maps 2,400 kilometres of marine coastline, divided into 26 manageable
segments, so visitors can paddle their way into the heart of Florida's
natural wonders, coastal communities, historical sites and exciting
urban centres. Florida's wealth of waterways and coastal routes
offers an elegant and low-impact way to experience the natural diversity
that awaits you.
Paddling around paradise
Florida is already one of the world's great destinations for
paddling. The Florida
Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail (FCSPT)
will make it a sea kayaker's
mecca, beginning at Big Lagoon State Park near Pensacola and tracing
the
peninsula'a coast till it reaches Fort Clinch State Park,
north of Jacksonville.
To plan your trip, visit the FCSPT website for detailed maps, important
trip tips
and gear and safety advice. The site is also an excellent resource
for information on local guides, accommodations, regional amenities
and points of interest that will make your Florida paddling adventure
a trip to remember.
The view from the sea
Since the earliest explorers arrived in the New World, journeys
by water have offered adventurers a unique perspective on a region's
wilderness, wildlife and people. The ambitious FCSPT introduces
paddlers to every coastal habitat in Florida, including barrier
islands, dune systems, salt marshes, mangrove forests, seagrass
meadows and coral reefs. The trail, an initiative of Florida's
Department of Environmental Protection: Office of Greenways & Trails,
has just reached its halfway mark, with each of its planned 26
segments subdivided into manageable "legs" so that
kayakers can set out on multi-day trips or a gentle afternoon
of paddling. The trail starts in the northwest near Pensacola
and Fort
Pickens, home to 34,000 acres of seagrass beds, salt marshes, estuarine
and oceanic coast and undeveloped barrier islands that are critical
staging areas for migrating birds travelling from South America.
Across the peninsula, the Timucuan Trails/Fort
Clinch segment, just
north of Jacksonville, features travel by way of interior creeks,
the intracoastal waterway or the Atlantic shore, which is recommended
for experienced paddlers only. Still to be officially mapped, the
FCSPT segment in Citrus County will include the Nature
Coast Canoe & Kayak
Trail, which will take paddlers through some of the southeastern
U.S.A.'s most pristine salt marshes and year-round habitat
for such signature Florida species as ospreys, eagles, shore and
wading birds, dolphins and alligators — and manatees, which
inhabit Crystal River during the winter months. Steeped in human
history, the Florida Keys segment boasts such landmarks as the Indian
Key Historic Park and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park. Visitors
can still spot ancient shipwrecks in the clear water. Its tropical
splendour includes a richly diverse marine life — from manatees
and sea turtles to lobsters, fish and
stingrays — plus hundreds of migrating hawks, magnificent
seabirds and vivid songbirds. Trail segments range in length from
26 to 177 kilometres and cover a variety of coastal types. The shortest
and perhaps most urbanized segment occurs along 27 kilometres between
Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale. Dotted with city and county beaches
and home to the Ann Kolb Nature Centre, it offers paddlers the best
of wild and urban settings. While many paddlers stay close to sheltered
shores, some tackle open-water challenges such as the Tampa Bay
crossing. The trail segment in Pinellas County, birthplace of Florida's
citrus industry, traverses Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater
and is renowned for its vast parklands. Among them are Anclote Key,
whose barrier islands are considered to be among the top five sites
in the state for diversity and numbers of beach-nesting birds, and
Caladesi Island, christened the second best natural beach in the
U.S.A. Wherever you start your Florida adventure, you'll discover
a magnificent world of incomparable coastal environments.
A state of blue
Like the overland Appalachian Trail, says the Office of Greenways & Trails' field
director Doug Alderson, the FCSPT has been created with a vision:
to complete a Florida-wide network of recreational waterways. And
counties statewide are likewise working to develop their own connections
to the larger trail. "In relation
to the FCSPT," Alderson explains, "these blueways offer
great side trips, mostly for day paddlers." Nearly every FCSPT
segment intersects with one of Florida's inland waterways.
For example, the Great
Calusa Blueway covers the Fort Myers and Sanibel areas; the north-central Suwannee
River Wilderness Trail flows along shores lined with towering pines and stately cypress;
and the Wilderness
Waterway crosses fabled Everglades National Park between Flamingo and the
Gulf Coast.
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