ICL: Exploring North Florida Forest and Trails, January 24 – February 21

Course Instructor George Owen

This course will be conducted in the ICL Classroom over several Fridays in January and February and will feature the outdoor, more natural northern Florida - beyond the crowded cities, glitz, and Disney World. We take to the Florida woods in a state that is one-third public land, much of it heavily forested with lakes, large springs, and rivers. This course will review Florida outdoors overall while concentrating on forests and trails from the Ocala/Gainesville area through the Florida panhandle, including more remote Gulf beaches. You will learn about the Florida National Scenic Trail which spans most of the state, while many other trails are included. The instructor gives out various pamphlets and brochures on Florida outdoors. He shares where and when to go see everything from alligators to manatees and bald eagles. Come to visit the state, especially inviting in winter, as we explore what older natives of the state like George designate "the real Florida."

George Owen was born and raised in central Florida, where from early elementary school on to adulthood he hunted, fished, and explored the middle Florida woods. Some summers in college he was the director of the outdoor program and nature instructor for one of Florida's largest youth camps. When he moved to Georgia with his wife Sandy while starting their family of two sons, he was deeply involved on weekend and spare times with trail clubs and trails, laying out and supervising construction of over 125 miles of trails in the Chattahoochee National Forest and served as president of three hiking organizations, and was a co-founder of the Benton MacKaye Trail Association. Following occupational retirement, George was a guide for ten years part-summers in the Swiss Alps. He continues to lead hikes and help with both trail layout and maintenance to this day in his elderly years. He also annually teaches the popular "Outdoors and Hiking in the Southern Appalachians" in ICL, scheduled now again for spring 2025.