Florida · National Preserve trail

Halfway Creek Paddling Trail

in Florida · centroid 61 mi from Cape Coral

Attention: Halfway Creek is not completely passable at this time. You can put in and paddle from Sea Grape Drive in Big Cypress south towards the HC 1 marker. To complete the through-trip, paddlers must head west once they encounter the HC3 / L 15 marker, and continue following the L markers.

Once you travel across the “lake,” look for the L 14 marker. The numbers will continue to descend and take you to L 5 or L 6. From there, head west and you will come out by Everglades City. From the L 3 marker up to the L 1 marker is impassable.

The Halfway Creek-Left Hand Turner-Turner River loop is also not accessible at this time. The Halfway Creek and Loop Trails are accessible from Everglades City, Chokoloskee, or from the Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center on Sea Grape Drive off of US 41.

States
Florida
Trail type
National Preserve trail
Centroid nearest city
Cape Coral, FL · 61 mi · ~1.8 hr drive
Centroid coords
25.8549°, -81.3556°

About Big Cypress National Preserve

National Preserve

This trail is inside Big Cypress National Preserve, a national preserve 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.

Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/halfway-creek-paddling-trail.htm

Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/bicy/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 Halfway Creek Paddling Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

Affiliate · disclosed
Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Cape Coral, FL — 61 miles away (~1.8 hr drive). See accommodation in Cape Coral 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.