The highly anticipated Florida Hiking Festival, part of the Florida Trails Association’s annual conference, is kicking off Friday, March 28th in White Springs. The participants will have the option to take on several different hikes, all starting in White Springs in Suwannee County.  Hikers of all skill levels will be able to hike the Florida Trail, Suwannee River Wilderness Trail, and some other off-road bike trails.  Demonstrations and educational seminars about the hiking area and safety will also take place during the weekend.

To register, call 1-877-Hike-FLA or register onsite on Friday. The festival will run through March 30th.
 

New hiking software is now available for download to your blackberry to aid hikers in monitoring their health and safety while hiking this spring. The All Sport GPS program and the Trimble Outdoors program are both designed to track how far you have hiked, how many calories you are burning, and map your route. Many hikers these days take a cell phone with them to be able to call in case of an emergency or at least be tracked by the internal GPS tracking units inside. Adding a hiking software that can keep you safer and help you monitor your progress is a smart, easy addition to that piece of hiking equipment. 

Both programs are free for 30 days and then run for $5.99 per month or $39.99 for a year.