Hike #96 - Florida Trail - Okeechobee West - Day One

Hike #96 in our Florida Hikes book starts at Sportsman Village and goes up about 25 miles to Okee-Tantie on the Kissimmee River. We're going to hike it over five different days. This first day we did five miles, up to the S131 water structure a mile past the Lakeport Campsite. It was chilly and breezy, but nice and sunny, and even after ten miles our feet weren't bothering us at all.

The first three miles were all along the road, although fortunately there was a pedestrian/bike path which kept us away from the fast-moving cars and trucks. After passing the Lakeport boat ramp, the Florida Trail left the roadside and joined the dike. That section was much prettier, and quieter, too.

After returning to our car we drove to check out the Vance Whidden Park Trail. This was a mile or so in from the main road. While at one time there might have been facilities, those have disappeared and there's just a short, paved loop that we drove around. It would be a good place to go if you desire to avoid crowds! 

Then we found our next starting point - the Margaret Van de Velde Park at the Harney Pond Canal. There were a couple of picnic tables, but this park is really meant for boaters; there were at least four different boat ramps. Somewhere I read an article stating this site has some of the best views of Lake Okeechobee, so we took the time to climb the observation tower. Whether the views are the best or not is up to personal interpretation, but the scenery was definitely beautiful.

We'll be back next week!