The Best Florida Theme Parks Are Its Outdoors

Kayaking between the twisting, gnarled branches of mangroves, getting dirt locked into the tread of my hiking shoes, riding horseback through lush green trails, and navigating obstacle courses high in tree canopies—Florida is known for its theme parks, but often the best attractions are those in nature.

At the invitation of the tourism board, I arrived in Florida for a three-part experience in Florida’s Suwannee County, Orlando, and St. Pete’s, all to see the natural, non-theme park side of the Sunshine State—and hopefully an alligator or two. I discovered a place with opportunities for outdoor adventures, each tucked away between cityscapes, and a state that fed an empty stomach when my tiring day in nature ended.

Part One: The quiet of the Natural North

My trip started in Suwannee County (just west of Jacksonville) by checking into the 800-acre Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and Campground. Located along the Suwannee River, the park has hiking trails, birding, boat launch sites, kayaking, and cycling, as well as its own store for supplies. Most who come to the park are there to camp and when the weather is hot, you’ll find more RVs. I stayed in one of their cabins ($100+), which have porches, a small living space, kitchen, bedroom, and full bath. While not a luxury experience, it (and its air conditioning) does keep you comfortable on hot nights if you’re wanting to be in nature, but not sleep in it.

The park has regular concerts and festivals, becoming a gathering hub for the area, especially those that live in the county’s seat, Live Oak, a small town just eight miles down the road.

“We just had a festival,” a clerk at the campground store told me. “It can become a party when we have those. Sometimes we get a lot of hippies.”

For me, it served as a hub to explore the outdoors in Florida’s Natural North, which consists of 14 counties—of which, Suwannee County is one—with the natural landscape as the primary attraction.

I started my day with breakfast at Dixie Grill, a small restaurant in Live Oak—the kind of small-town restaurant where it felt like everyone knew everyone. The breakfast menu is everything you’d expect for a breakfast—eggs, sausage, toast à la carte, waffles, omelets, etc.

With energy in hand, I left for a morning horseback ride at the BarnYard, a family-owned farm that trains visitors on how to ride a horse, offers farrier services (hoof trimming and horseshoeing) and boards animals, including hosting a pot-belly pig rescue. A group of those pigs—which are called a sounder—energetically waddled over to meet me to say hi, including a round, friendly one named Easter. The BarnYard is new and the owners also have big plans to expand and open it up as a glamping site.

I love exploring places by horseback. My horse, Frankie, and I followed Jaime Morgan, who owns the outfit with his spouse, Deanna. We ventured into beautiful trails, passing through farmland and into tighter, verdant green spaces that wound between trees for two hours of peaceful trail riding. Frankie was a friendly, somewhat hungry young horse who also wanted to snack along the way.

The rest of the day I was on foot, checking out some of Suwannee County’s parks.

Suwannee county is home to famous underground springs at Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park (admission is $4 per vehicle), which attracts divers from across the globe—and that boast is not just tourism’s marketing plug. Peacock Springs has 33,000 feet of surveyed underwater passages and you have to be certified to dive. When I arrived, I immediately ran into divers, like Edward Adkins, who had been diving since the early 1980s.

“You’ll run into people from all over the globe here,” Adkins confirmed, while hauling out his scuba gear. The springs, which are a clear emerald green, are “a bucket-lister for divers,” he added.

For us non-divers, there is a nature trail above ground that traces the tunnels in the caves below, with educational information along the way.

“Be careful,” one diver called out as I headed on a trail. “There are gators and snakes out there, though I’d rather meet a gator than a snake any day.”

No gators made an appearance.

I ended my day at Suwannee River State Park (admission is $5 per vehicle), which has a combined 18 miles of forest trails, with some leading to see historical sites, like ghost towns and Civil War earthen mounds created to defend a railroad crossing. For those who want to stay the night, there are primitive campsites, as well as RV sites, and cabins. The park also sits at the intersection of the Suwannee and Withlacoochee rivers, which look perfect for kayaking.

Suwannee County is a fantastic, quiet place for those looking for an outdoors alternative to Florida’s famous and bustling theme parks. Live Oak has food options, like The Brown Lantern, a local pub that specializes in burgers or the Big Wood BBQ & Grill for those in the mood for smoked pork. So after a long day outdoors, you’ll always be able to reward yourself.

Part Two: Kayaking the springs and swinging in the trees around Orlando

The next day, I made my way to Orlando for a taste of the outdoors. Yes, Orlando is the high holy place of Saint Mickey, but what if not everyone’s observant—ehem, me, for example? There is good news: Some of your group can make your pilgrimage to Disney, while others can look to the greater Orlando area for outdoor adventures. My home base in Orlando, the B Resort & Spa, is a good place for that cake-and-eat-it-too mix, where the Disney devout can take the shuttle from the hotel, while many of the outdoor adventures are a mere 20-45 minutes drive.

Family friendly, the B Resort & Spa has comfortable, bright spacious suites with a sky high view, a well-kept pool, outlined by poolside rooms and a bar. I stayed in their Posh Suite Fireworks View King ($266+), which, as the name suggests, does come with a view of the Magical Kingdom’s fireworks display in the distance. A family-friendly stay, most of the resort’s rooms are like their standard double queen rooms that come with a sofa bed ($163+).

The hotel’s American Kitchen Bar & Grill, an open-concept restaurant, has an evolving menu that includes everything from burgers, in-house smoked meats to empanadas and tacos. Their chimichanga, a special that I’m told will be added to the menu, is larger than life and their bar makes a killer Old Fashioned.

The next morning, my adventure began 20 minutes from my hotel in the trees at the Orlando Tree Trek Adventure Park, an aerial obstacle course in the tree canopy. This is a walk-a-tight-rope, hop-along-swaying-logs, swing-from-a-rope-like-Tarzan-into-a-net, and fly-along ziplines type of adventure. At each phase, you climb higher and dodge more obstacles, though for those wary of falling from the tops of trees—which is likely all of us—you do clip on to a safety line in-case you lose your balance.

After my tree adventure, I hopped on a bike rental from West Orange Trail Bikes & Blades in Winter Garden just 30 minutes away.

The West Orange Trail is a comfortable, paved ride along the south end of the Lake Apopka area, which takes you into towns like Winter Garden and provides access to spots like the Oakland Nature Preserve. My stop, just a few miles up the trail, was at the Plant Street Market, a former abandoned group of apartments in historic Winter Garden, which is now an artisanal, farm fresh market with 20 vendors.

While there, I met Andy Sheeter for a beer tasting. Sheeter is part-owner of Plant Street Market and founder of Crooked Can Brewing Co., which is an anchor of the market. Their popular Florida Sunshine beer is bright and refreshing, and not overly hoppy—perfect after spending the morning in the trees.

After a light BBQ lunch at This Little Piggy BBQ, with delicious tender brisket and pulled pork, which they slow cook all night, and some samples of gourmet fresh popcorn at NOSH, which crafts recipes intended to pair well with beer—like beer cheese popcorn—I hit the bike trail again.

Later that night, I made my way to the Hammered Lamb in the Ivanhoe Village of Orlando, which has wonderful, open outdoor seating and a welcoming, neighborhood bar atmosphere. The menu has everything from sliders to pork belly avocado toast to quinoa bowls, but I went for the simpler lamb quesadilla (sliced lamb, mozzarella, goat cheese, baby spinach, and spicy agave drizzle, served with a side of tzatziki) and their refreshing, signature cocktail, the Huckleberry lemonade (44° North Huckleberry Vodka, freshly squeezed lemonade, and huckleberry syrup).

On my last day in Orlando, I had one more outdoor adventure before I left for part three of my trip—kayaking at Rock Springs, with outfitter, Get Up and Go Kayaking. Rock Springs felt like kayaking through a movie set, like the perfectly cut river filled with crystal clear turquoise water. Get Up and Go Kayaking is different from a lot of kayaking outfitters in that they use clear kayaks that immerse you in the experience, and that feels unreal when kayaking through the many colors of Rock Springs.

When asked about gators, I’m told (to my disappointment, again) that the waters are generally too shallow—knee to waist high—and too clear to attract them. There was plenty of other wildlife to be found, as a great blue heron, for example, soared just over my head and perched on a large fallen tree branch above me to fish.

After kayaking, I left for brunch at a new Orlando spot: the Milkhouse. Located in Orlando’s Milk District, which is named after a dairy farm was established there in the 1920s. The Milkhouse is known for its small plates and cocktails, there is also a brunch menu that has everything from fried deviled eggs and a charcuterie tower to a Monte Cristo and (my choice) eggs Benedict with buttermilk biscuits. For cocktails, try their Call Me Cutie (gin, lemon, clementine, orgeat, foam, and atomized bitters), which works well with brunch.

Part three: beach, bikes, and mangroves

The last leg of my trip was around St. Pete’s Beach, staying at The Postcard Inn, a retro-chic hotel that leans on a surfer-themed past. Room access is outdoors. Deluxe king rooms ($212+) along the central part of the hotel have a bright, boutique and beach theme vibe to them, while those along the pool (where I stayed) are more minimalistic ($267+), but do include a small patio with Adirondack chairs. There were areas that needed attention, like my refrigerator that wouldn’t stay shut. Pool rooms are also next to their beach access bar, which means live music and DJs on the weekend, appealing to the beach crowd nearby. The hotel also offers a nice buffet breakfast.

My first night at St. Pete’s Beach, I ate at 82 Degrees at the Saint Hotel.

At their open, second-floor bar, I had a crowd pleaser: their crab-stuffed avocados (avocado stuffed with crab meat and topped with cotija cheese, baja slaw, and chipotle aioli), and their pan-seared gulf black grouper (8 oz filet over andouille sausage corn and edamame succotash, with crispy lardons, crab meat, and Key West hollandaise). For a cocktail: their Fill My Cup (SelvaRey silver rum, lime, coconut water, fresh mint, simple syrup, and soda) is a refreshing choice on a hot day.

But back to the outdoors.

The next day, I headed to Fort De Soto for a private eBike tour with Bay eBikes. Fort De Soto is a stunning park that crosses five islands (also known as, keys), with miles of shoreline. My knowledgeable Bay eBikes guide introduced me to its trails, wildlife—like two sets of nesting ospreys—and its historic Spanish-American War era fort.

Following that, and before my next and last, outdoor adventure, I refueled again, having fried shrimp tacos and a tropical sunset margarita (Tequila, melon liquor, pineapple juice and splash of grenadine) overlooking the water from the bar at Billy’s Stone Crab. This also happened to be where I had one last meetup with those clear kayaks from Get Up and Go Kayaking, but this time visiting the twisty-turny shelter of mangroves, along the barrier island of the relatively shallow, 1,828-acre Shell Key Preserve.

And yes, I asked about gators. And no, I saw no gators. I was, however, happy to get up in the mangroves in a kayak.

Like any destination, Florida has its many sides: beach life, city life, and family-packed theme parks. But it also has a significant outdoor world that is magical in its own right. There you’ll find wildlife and adventure that gives you another side of Florida, especially if you’re only imagining the state with theme parks and Florida-man stories.

But most surprisingly, what does a guy have to do to see an alligator around here?