Florida · National Park trail

Bear Lake Trail

in Florida · centroid 62 mi from Miami

Located at the end of Bear Lake Road (2 miles long), Bear Lake Trail is 1.6 miles one way. Biking is allowed on Bear Lake Road only and not permitted on Bear Lake Trail. Journey through a dense hardwood hammock mixed with mangroves.

The trail follows the old Homestead Canal, built in 1922, and is an excellent area for woodland birds. There are more than 50 different tree species. Bike, drive, or walk to the end of Bear Lake Road (2 miles one way) to begin this trail.

Bear Lake Road closes to traffic in the summer months due to flooding and erosion. Bear Lake Canoe Trail is no longer passable.

States
Florida
Trail type
National Park trail
Centroid nearest city
Miami, FL · 62 mi · ~1.8 hr drive
Centroid coords
25.1487°, -80.9232°

About Everglades National Park

National Park

This trail is inside Everglades National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.

Entrance fee: $35 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.

Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/bear-lake-trail.htm

Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked Bear Lake Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

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Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Miami, FL — 62 miles away (~1.8 hr drive). See accommodation in Miami on Booking.com → RoamFound earns a small commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we handle affiliate links.

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Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.