American Trails names Florida as America’s Best Trails State!

American Trails is the only national, nonprofit organization working on behalf of all trail interests. Since 1988, American Trails has made it a part of its mission to promote cooperation among user groups and pursue a national infrastructure of trails and greenways that serves a full range of activities.

The Best Trails State Award was presented to the State of Florida-Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Florida is home to more than 5,000 miles of state-owned trails and also features one of only eight congressionally designated national scenic trails. The Florida National Scenic Trail will ultimately extend 1,400 miles from the Gulf Islands National Seashore in the Panhandle to the Florida Keys.

More than three million visitors each year take advantage of the 800 miles of free, multi-use trails included in nine state-managed trails and the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway.

With nearly 26,000 river miles and at least 25,000 miles of streams and canals, Florida is a paradise for paddlers. Forty paddling trails have been designated into the Florida Greenways and Trails System including the 1,500-mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail which extends around Florida’s entire peninsula.

Twenty-seven Florida trails have been named as National Recreation Trails. The DEP Office of Greenways & Trails is responsible for the acquisition and/or management of seven of these trails.

Stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Johns River is the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. Here the State of Florida has preserved more than 83,000 acres of recreation and conservation lands that are home to an internationally recognized network of mountain biking and equestrian trails, as well as America’s first land bridge which provides safe passage for trail users across I-75.