Fern Forest Nature Center

Dawn Stewart

Great place to get in touch with nature. Wood boardwalks if you don’t want the real live walk in the woods, or there’s another path that gets you in good with nature.

Leah Delvin

My favorite local place to go for a walk. The forest is beautiful in its natural elegance and diversity. A well established canopy with old growth trees provide ample shade on hot Florida days. There is always a mix of some dry and some wetlands to walk through. Elevated boardwalks keep you separated from the wild animals that roam the forest floor and let you enjoy the wetter parts of the park from above. There are usually beautiful birds and animals around and a great staff to help with any questions.

Mona Meneses

Some areas are muddy and wet but it makes the walk more adventurous. We enjoyed spotting all the different species of fern. Best to come on a cool breezy day! Lots of bugs out when the breeze isn’t

A K

Well maintained, fantastic trails smack in the center of Broward County. You can do as short as a 1-2 mile hike or stretch it into as many miles as you like. Trails: The pathways fork into multiple trails you can choose from. All of them have a slightly different feel to it, and it’s definitely well worth exploring each and every one of them. We went in the middle of a weekday between Christmas and New Year and they were plenty of people around! There is a big rest area with a vending machine for water and soda and also water fountains and well maintained toilets. Closer to the trails you have a hose for cleaning up your boots as well. We also spotted County provided bug and pest repellent but we strongly recommend you bringing your own. A small backpack with some trail mix, snacks, energy bars and water won’t go amiss for those longer stays. Clothes and shoes - We spotted plenty of people ambling around in shorts, t shirt and running shoes and I suppose it works for a muggy day or if you’re simply slow walking or bird watching. I’d recommend running pants, tall socks and a full sleeved running shirt to keep the ticks and mosquitoes away. We also ran into some large spider webs along the way. Trail running shoes will really come in handy if you’re into trail running. The trails are true trails - you have stones, deeply embedded roots, over growth, wet mud and other usual suspects if you’re into trail running. Bonus: We spotted a bird that seemed to be sleeping as in it wasn’t budging an inch for about ten minutes. One of the bird watchers asked us to download an app called Seek by inaturalist. You open the app, point the in-app camera at the bird (or tree or mushroom or any other nature object) and voila! You get a detailed description of the thing you’re looking at! This was probably the coolest part of the trip!