"My view is that there is a shortage of primitive camping sites in Florida, most I do know of allow leashed dogs. You are lucky to live in Southwest Florida Water Management District, they have a decent amount of hiking trails and primitive sites on district lands.
One problem is they are also some prime hunting lands and are restricted during seasons which is also best season for both camping and hiking. But it's also easy to plan around as most hunts are scheduled on weekends if you are able to hike on week days.
Green Swamp is one of my favorites but others are good too.
Check out the district's recreation web site:
http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/ "
Thanks Winged. We've enjoyed some of the SWFTMD Green Swamp areas also. I have a copy of the SWFTMD recreation guide and only found two of their properties listed as allowing dogs both on trails and in primitive sites, and when we called to double check one said the listing was wrong. (In our area we found a SWFTMD site that allows dogs in camp but not on trails and a state park that allows dogs on trails but not in camp. Go figure.)
"What about the florida national scenic trail? It is a national trail like the AT. "
Good idea. Justwalkin. I'll have to check. I know in our area the FT crosses some of the same land I've been looking at, but often the rules are waived for people hiking that trail. Thanks for the idea.