frankieN

Hi all: The last few years I have taken Thanksgiving off from the family and friends and done some bike touring. First was to the Apalachicola National Forest in northern Florida. The next was to ride through the Ocala National Forest and this year I rode out my front door and around Lake Okeechobee. I live in South Florida so the ride up US 27 to get to South Bay and the big lake wasn't a real bicyclists dream. I had contacted someone at the Army Corp of Engineers who told me the L.O.S.T. (Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail) was fully paved all the way around the lake. That wasn't true but luckily I was on a bike with 26 inch rims and 1.5 tires so the bad stretches weren't that bad. A beautiful sunset over the lake, some outstanding catfish and hush puppies and a few days away to ponder it all made for some pretty good tours. Next years planning stage has already begun. Take care and keep riding.

gpsblake

Thanks for the updates. How is the camping and gators around Lake Okeechobee? Was it easy to find camping spots?

frankieN

The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) has primitive campsites all around the lake is what I was told. I never saw one of them. The LOST is actually on top of the levee which circumnavigates the lake. It's about 110 miles around as Lake Okeechobee is the second largest freshwater lake in the USA. The first campsite was located right on the levee and it was great. My campsite was right on the lake and the sunset was stunning. The other two were just off the levee. I got off the levee at times to get cold drinks or to get a different view point. I never saw any gators. I did see pictures on the wall at one of the campsites with some gators that were caugt - and they were real monsters.

NoReg

I was in southern florida in springtime, and I saw tons of gators. big, small, and got snapped at by one I jumped over on a backcountry trail in Miyaka. I got video of gators in every damp hole right down through Deer Key. Quite a few years back. They sure make life interesting. About the only ones that creeped me out a little were the odd one I didn't really see. In some places there were so many of them that I would notice one half lying in a culvert that I had earlier just walked right by. The only ones that didn't seem dozy, other than the Myaka one, were floating around in rivers.