Homestead to Lake Okeechobee

Over the course of 4 days, using Midway Campground as our base camp, we explored some of Southern Florida, from Homestead to Lake Okeechobee.

In Homestead, we had a most enjoyable visit at the Fruit and Spice Park, walking through groves of many different spice and fruit plants, and seeing several Iguanas.

One of the amazing highlights during our visit, was the pleasure of meeting visual artist Andres Cabrera-Garcia, who was painting murals on a building in the park. For anyone interested in learning more about this terrific artist, please visit his site: https://andrescabreraart.com

After leaving the park, we stopped at Shark Valley. It seemed overcrowded for a Monday, but we have to keep in mind, this is the start of Florida’s ‘tourist season’. We decided to move on to Oasis Visitor Center to explore the ‘new’/relocated southern terminus of the Florida Trail.

Upon arriving, we stopped in at the visitor center, then went on to explore a short section of the trail. We met ‘Root’, a Florida Trail thru-hiker, who had just completed the first 8 miles of the ‘old’/former southern terminus, a most brutal hike if there ever was one through the swamp!

A few miles beyond the Oasis Visitor Center is the Ochopee Post Office, which is the smallest Post Office in the United States. Unfortunately, it was not open when we arrived as their hours are limited. However, they still serve the local community.

Moving on from the Post Office, we stopped at the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk Trail, located in Fakahatchee Strand State Park. This is a short out and back trail where we saw a water snake, alligators, and some small birds.

We rose early to drive the Loop Road, which is a scenic drive within Big Cypress National Preserve. Near the beginning of the drive, we spotted two Spoonbills, our first sighting since arriving in Florida before Christmas. We also spotted a Green Heron, and a slew of vultures and alligators along the Loop Road!

HP Williams Roadside Park was a quick boardwalk stop on the Tamiami Trail. We saw Great Blue Herons, Cormorants, Anhingas, and other water birds, as well as several alligators, all typical sightings along the Tamiami Trail.

We heard the Kirby Storter Roadside Park Boardwalk was a wonderful 0.7 mile out and back trail, but it was shortened to .3 miles. Sadly, we learned that a large portion of that trail was closed due to arson.

On our way to central Florida, we made a quick stop at Lake Okeechobee. We took a couple of pictures at a lock in the northern end of the lake.

We very much enjoyed our stay at Midway Campground, which is staffed by volunteers, who are the backbone of the National Park Service. Volunteer Troy was kind and generous, offering some very useful information about the area, along with back country hiking and camping. Troy truly seemed to enjoy his job. As he stated to us, “every day is just a walk in the park.” We wish him many more joyful walks!

Next up, Central Florida