Top Five Florida Backroads

My personal favorites so far, heavily slanted toward North Florida since that's what I know best.


1. US 90 from Tallahassee to Monticello: this landscaped rolling greenway blooms in the summertime with pink-red crape myrtles. Lake Miccosukee cypresses mark the halfway point.



2. Old Magnolia Road: An unpaved old cotton road in eastern Leon County that turns to sludge in the rain. Mules used to carry cotton to the long abandoned Port Magnolia on the Saint Marks River.



3. Miccosukee Canopy Road: The greenway to the Cook Shack, under a bramble of live oak branches and Spanish moss. Another old cotton road. There are also hiking trails and a park.



4. Avenue of the Oaks: A winding driveway in Monticello canopied by live oaks.



5. US 90 from Grand Ridge to Chattahoochee: Cross the Apalachicola River near the Georgia border and climb one of the steepest ravines in Florida to reach Chattahoochee.



Honorable Mention: The trails of Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Good place to spot raccoons on the move.