Members of the Florida Trail Association’s Loxahatchee chapter enjoy a hike at Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach. South Florida has other hiking trails like this one if you know where to look. Steve Waters/The Coastal Star
By Steve Waters
You wouldn’t think of South Florida as a hiking destination given its abundance of housing developments, condo communities and shopping centers. But there are plenty of relatively hidden trails in or near Palm Beach County where a hiker can feel miles away from the everyday chaos.
Some of those serene trails are in local parks, where you are serenaded by the calls of songbirds and squawks of wading birds instead of the drone of traffic. Others are in remote wildlife management areas, where you might see white-tailed deer, wild hogs, wild turkeys and maybe even a black bear.
One of the best ways to find and explore those trails is with the Loxahatchee chapter of the Florida Trail Association, one of the organization’s 19 chapters that stretch from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle.
The Loxahatchee chapter (loxfltrail.org) has regular early morning hikes from Boca Raton to Hobe Sound that are posted on Meetup. In the next month they include:
• John Prince Park in Lake Worth Beach
• Peaceful Waters Sanctuary in Wellington
• Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound
• Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach
• Riverbend Park in Jupiter
• Pondhawk Natural Area in Boca Raton
• DuPuis Wildlife and Environmental Area near Indiantown
The trails range from paved to gravel to sandy to muddy, and some locations have boardwalks that traverse ponds and wetlands. There are even some beach walks. And they attract all types of users.
During a 4-mile hike with the group on the gravel trails in the southern half of Okeeheelee, there were cyclists and runners in addition to hikers. That section of the park also has a 9-mile horseback riding trail in addition to other equestrian amenities.
The signage at the park could be better. There are occasional signs telling you what trail you’re on and a few “you are here” maps, but there are forks in the trails with no information and nothing telling you how to get back to your starting point or if you’re even going in the right direction.
That’s the value of hiking with the FTA’s Loxahatchee chapter. Paul Cummings of Lake Worth is one of the chapter’s activity leaders and he organizes many of the hikes.
“I try to do a little bit all around the county, so that every month we hit a Boca and a Jupiter,” said Cummings, who has served as the chapter’s president as well as president of the FTA. “We have a lot of activity leaders in the Florida Trail Association and some of them lead 12-mile hikes on weekends or through the more difficult swamps and that kind of thing. I try to be relatively leisurely so we don’t rule out anybody.”
Sometimes just getting to the trail locations is difficult because of hidden entrances and incorrect online and GPS searches. Cummings specifies where the meeting locations are and how to get there.
For example, Okeeheelee is divided by Forest Hill Boulevard. One hiker said that the first time she went to the park for a chapter hike, she went to the north side and ended up calling Cummings to find out where everybody was.
“Yeah, people put Okeeheelee Park in their GPS and it never gets them here,” said the fit and trim Cummings, who grew up in Michigan at a time when a youngster walked everywhere.
In addition to hikes, the chapter does monthly maintenance on trails, whether it’s cleaning up trash and debris or trimming vegetation.
The chapter also created and maintains the 63-mile Ocean to Lake Trail in Martin County that runs from Port Mayaca to Hobe Sound and has a six-day backpacking hike on it every February.
Gear recommendations
Two products that are ideal for hiking are the GTFO Mountain Pant by Origin and Danum shoes by Freet.
Origin’s pants are incredibly lightweight and tough enough to handle any obstacles on a trail. Made in America from American-sourced materials, the pants feature Nyloc, a tightly woven fabric that provides superior abrasion resistance.
The pants have reinforced knees, yet they’re as mobile as they are durable. They’re water resistant, dry quickly and shed wrinkles. The handy thigh utility pockets have zippers and a flap to keep out moisture and keep in your car keys and other essentials. Visit originusa.com.
Wearing Freet’s Danum shoes on the trail is like hiking barefoot. They have zero-drop construction, which means there is no height at the heel, along with a wide toe box and flexible sole that offers secure traction. You can feel the earth as you walk. They’re lightweight, breathable and packable, and have a higher ankle to keep out trail debris. Visit usa.freetbarefoot.com/products/danum.
Outdoors writer Steve Waters can be reached at steve33324@aol.com.
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