Great Florida Birding Trail

The Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail in Jacksonville, Florida is part of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissions projects to preserve natural land in Florida, especially in the northern area near Jacksonville. The conservation commission has 500 various sites throughout the state for wildlife, bird watching and educational opportunities.

The trail itself is 2,000 miles with self guided sections. It is meant to be a highway trail in that you can drive through some of the area. The trail was modeled after the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail. There are free guides at the entrance to the trail to help visitors understand what they see. They can also get site descriptions, maps, and directions to some of the other areas along the long trail. Each cluster of trail contains about 1 to 15 sites such as the Lake Wales Ridge site. The entire trail is divided into four sections called East, West, Panhandle, and South Florida. The East section was built first with each section coming two years apart. The last section was completed in 2006.

There are ten access points to get onto the trail such as Fort Clinch State Park, Fort De Soto Park, and Big Lagoon State Park.