One Day Trips
10 Wonderful Waters For Summer Heat in Natural North Florida
For folks looking to escape the summer heat, Natural North Florida provides countless opportunities to cool down with its extensive collection of springs, rivers, lakes, and coastline. Most of Florida’s 700 identified freshwater springs are located in North Florida or along the Gulf Coast, and more than 40 are open to the public. Our section …
Too Windy To Fish The Gulf? Head Up A Big Bend Coastal Creek
Springtime often means that the winds howl on Natural North Florida’s Gulf Coast. It’s not unusual for winds to be light and variable, 3 to 7-knots, in the morning hours, but turn to a 20-knot westerly sea breeze by noon. The land heats up faster than the water, and that convection causes rough …
O’Leno State Park and Its Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy
One of Florida’s first state parks, O’Leno State Park was first developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The park is located along the banks of the scenic Santa Fe River, a tributary of the Suwannee River, and features sinkholes, hardwood hammocks, river swamps and sandhills. As the river courses through the park, …
A Beginner’s Guide to Bay Scallop Season: Catching, Cleaning & Cooking Fresh Gulf Scallops
Scalloping is the Natural North Florida’s alternative to South Florida’s lobster season. It’s a combination of complete madness at boat ramps and marinas, motels filled to capacity, family fun, and some of the best eating around. Here is our comprehensive guide to scalloping in Natural North Florida to prepare you for the upcoming season. Read …
Four Spectacular Florida Springs for Beginner Scuba Divers
Scuba diving for the first time is scary. Putting trust in your knowledge and capabilities, as well as in your gear, requires courage and an adventurous attitude. But the unforgettable experiences of breathing underwater, descending to new depths, and discovering underwater worlds of plant and animal life are all absolutely worth pushing past the fear …
A Taste of “Old Florida”: Bill’s Fish Camp at Suwannee
There are very few real “fish camps” left in Florida. Of those that disappeared, many were sold and their valuable (and strategically placed) real estate swallowed up by developers to build pricey condos and vacation homes. Some of that happened at Suwannee, Steinhatchee, Yankeetown and Cedar Key, but there are a few left. On our …
Day Trip Idea: “Plinking” For Free at Lake City’s Osceola Gun and Archery Range
Located near downtown Lake City, the Lewis D. Whitacre shooting range is a free and open to the public. It offers covered 25, 50 and 200 yard target ranges for rifles and pistols, as well as an archery range with a high stand. The range is open during daylight hours, but may be closed …
Day Trip Idea: Florida’s Citrus History at Gainesville’s Matheson History Museum, Through 8/26/16
Although our Natural North Florida region is no longer an important player in Florida’s citrus industry, there’s still lots of history and images to remind us how valuable “liquid gold” was to the area in past decades. As “cooler” weather crept northward, freezes killed many commercial groves, and only a few remain, mostly near lakes …
Spring Warrior Fish Camp, A Great Destination on Taylor County, Florida’s Gulf Coast
Spring Warrior Fish Camp is one of the few “real” fish camps still remaining on Florida’s Gulf coast. Located about 15 miles from Perry, it sits on Spring Warrior Creek, just a short run by boat from some of the best trout and redfishing anywhere in Florida.
Cedar Key’s Shell Mound, a “Sea Kayaker’s Playground”
While the town of Cedar Key is 24-miles off the beaten path, at the western (Gulf) end of SR24, Shell Mound is a bit farther! “The Shell Mound Unit of Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge is adjacent to Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. This unique feature was created by archaic period Eastern Woodland Indian cultures …