The sole mission of the Friends of the Florida Trail is the close the gaps on our Florida Trail – by any means required. In keeping with our mission, it is important that we recognize and congratulate the U.S. Forest …
HIKING THE FLORIDA TRAIL WITH JIM KERN
St. Augustine Social, June 2015 by Meeka Anne Armed with a backpack and a camera, Jim Kern tells stories, forges footpaths, and pioneers preservation efforts for America’s hiking trails. You never know who you might meet in St. Augustine. Jim …
Jim Kern started the Florida Trail five decades ago; he’s still waiting for the Legislature finish it
Tampa Bay Times, June 2017 Look how far you can get just by putting one foot in front of the other. Jim Kern has hiked trails all over the globe. He just got back from walking around Corsica. He’s clambered …
Filling the GAPS – Jim Kern’s path to complete the Florida Trail
Folio Magazine, May 2017 story & photos by CHLOE EMORY The only thing larger than Jim Kern’s fascination with nature is his desire to see the Florida Trail completed. In 1961, on a miserable, rainy day in the Great Smoky …
Historic Ceremony To Honor The First Blaze On The Florida National Scenic Trail
Footprint Magazine, Fall 2016 The Florida Trail Association (FTA) and the US Forest Service held a historic ceremony to dedicate a new Florida Heritage Site Marker, and to honor the creation of the Florida Trail. This public ceremony was held …
REI Talk – 12.5.16
On the Monday after Thanksgiving, in the early evening, I gave a program at the REI store in Jacksonville about the very first four hikes in 1966 announcing the creation of the Florida Trail. The first hike stretched from …
Mark Woods: A walk in woods 50 years after Jim Kern founded Florida Trail
PALATKA | Jim Kern led the way. He laced up his hiking shoes — the right shoe with an extra 1¼ inches in the sole to compensate for a hip replacement that left one leg shorter than the other — …
Florida’s National Hiking Trail is at Crossroads
Carving out the Florida National Scenic Trail began in 1966, and now the hiking path from the Everglades to the western Panhandle visits springs, manatees, wetlands, alligators, white beach, turquoise ocean and bird life not seen in more famous wilderness …
Path to Completion: Looking to bridge gaps, the creator of the Florida Trail seeks solutions
On a brilliant, end-of-summer day, sunshine illuminated the foliage obscuring 82-year-old Jim Kern’s waterfront St. Augustine property. The modest house peeked through the trees, less a noticeable landmark and more a strange hiccup of white breaking through emerald splashes of …
Jim Kern accepts resolution from FL Governor Rick Scott and Cabinet
It was about 10:30 during the Florida Cabinet meeting last Tuesday, September 20, that Rick Scott turned to Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam and said, “Commissioner Putnam would like now to recognize the 50th anniversary of the founding of …