Backpacking on the FLORIDA TRAIL | The BEST 100 miles, Suwannee River and Ocala National Forest

Backpacking in Florida during the cold winter months is awesome! After some brutally cold weather in Ohio, a section of the Florida Trail was the perfect destination. I chose a 45 mile section along the Suwannee River and a 55 mile section of the Ocala National Forest. This video showcases my adventure on the Suwannee River section.

American Canoe Adventures in White Springs was my shuttle for the Suwannee River section, beginning from the Bell Springs Trailhead and finishing at Gibson County Park, which was all along the river. After completing that section I drove to Juniper Springs, in the heart of ONF, and received a shuttle from Brian up to Rodman Dam at the Northern side of ONF to begin a 55 mile section down to Alexander Springs.

On this trek I used my Zpacks Duplex and Nemo Tensor air pad with a UGQ quilt all carried with a Lite AF Curve 35 backpack. This sleep system was a bit lighter than my Dream Hammock Raven and Hammock Gear DCF tarp. I really wanted to bring my Pa’lante Joey but was struggling to get my Helinox Chair Zero and Mavic Mini drone to fit. For shoes I wore the Altra Olympus 4.0’s with Darn Tough socks and Dirty Girl Gators.

For navigation I used Guthook and also carried my Garmin Inreach mini for any emergencies.

American Canoe Adventures was used as my shuttle service along the Suwannee section:
https://aca1.com/

Starting Location
Bell Springs Trailhead:
Trailhead: 30.329298, -82.689613
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bell+Springs+Trailhead/@30.3303988,-82.6899917,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x6a6b863e99420870!8m2!3d30.3303988!4d-82.6899917

Ending Location
Gibson County Park:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gibson+County+Park/@30.4420336,-83.0967866,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x52ff1fde8ed36292!8m2!3d30.4420336!4d-83.0967866

#floridatrail