13.1 percent of Florida. The Park Service holds the largest share at 2,491,692 acres, the Forest Service 1,217,769, Defense 521,943, Fish and Wildlife 306,892 and the BLM 2,345
Established October 11, 1974 as the first national preserve in the country. It burns roughly 60,000 acres a year under its own fire programme
A year for a Big Cypress off-road vehicle permit 7
$100
Valid through January 31 of the following year whatever month you buy it. One permit covers one vehicle, and the five classifications are UTV, ATV, swamp buggy, street legal and airboat
Walton County. Our own 3DEP query at the USGS point reads 339 feet. The low point is sea level on the Atlantic
A calendar set by water and hunting seasons
Two calendars govern organised travel in Florida. The first is water: a rainy season running May 15 to October 15 in the southwest, with daily storms, heat and high water, and a dry season from November through April that is the season everything happens in. The second is hunting, which closes national forest dispersed camping during the modern-firearm deer season and sets when equipment may be left in the Big Cypress backcountry.
Permits follow. A group off-road vehicle event in Big Cypress needs a special use permit first. A formal group activity or commercial use on a state forest needs a State Forest Use Permit. A national forest group over 75 people needs its own.
The large expos combine a vendor show, classes and a campground full of real vehicles. Rallies and brand gatherings are smaller and more social. Training weekends and club runs are where you actually drive.
Getting the most from one
The vendor hall is the least useful part.
01Take the classes. They are the best value at any expo.
02Walk the camping area. Owners will tell you what they would do differently.
03Talk to builders in person, and look closely at their work.
04Book camping early. It sells out before day tickets do.
For organizers
List the event with its dates, location, what it costs to attend and a link to register. We will add it to the directory and to the state it happens in.
Questions people ask
Are events worth it for beginners?
They are the quickest education available: a weekend of classes, hundreds of vehicles to look at, and owners who will happily tell you what they would do differently.
How do I add an event?
Use the List your business form and choose Events. Include the dates, the location and a link.
How high is Florida?
From Everglades City at 1 feet to Britton Hill at 345.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
0
Feet above sea level
Towns
BrooksvilleWithlacoochee State Forest headquarters and the Croom Motorcycle Area, the central Florida state forest riding ground. At 207 feet, high by peninsular standards.207 ft
Lake CityWhere I-10 meets I-75 beside the Osceola National Forest, the one Florida forest whose roads open to OHVs carry no permit and no fee.196 ft
BristolApalachicola Ranger District office on SR 20 in Liberty County, where unmaintained system roads marked with a Jeep symbol are open to 4x4 use during hunting season.167 ft
UmatillaSouth gateway to the Ocala National Forest on SR 19 and the address of the Seminole Ranger District office. The highest of the peninsular towns in this guide at 97 feet.97 ft
OcalaWest end of the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway on SR 40 and the way in to the Ocala National Forest from I-75. The Lake George Ranger District office sits east of town at Silver Springs.70 ft
Salt SpringsOn SR 19 inside the Ocala National Forest. The Salt Springs OHV Connector Trail runs in from the southeast corner of the Longleaf Trail.34 ft
ImmokaleeThe nearest town of any size to the Bear Island Unit, which is the one part of Big Cypress a street-legal 4x4 may drive. North on SR 29 from the Tamiami Trail.34 ft
CrawfordvilleWakulla Ranger District office for the Apalachicola National Forest. The Leon County OHV trails and the Silver Lake trailhead are the reason to be here.29 ft
CarrabelleTate’s Hell State Forest headquarters, at the coastal end of the Big Bend Scenic Byway. Over 150 miles of OHV trail start from the forest roads north of town.23 ft
PalatkaNorth of the Ocala National Forest near the Rodman Reservoir, where the Rodman trailhead gives northern access to the Ocala North OHV system.20 ft
Daytona BeachVolusia County beach driving, at 10 mph and by pass, and the east end of the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway corridor at Ormond Beach.14 ft
HomesteadMain entrance to Everglades National Park on SR 9336, with Flamingo 38 miles further south, and the mainland address for Biscayne National Park.8 ft
AstorOn the St. Johns River where SR 40 leaves the Ocala National Forest. A river crossing rather than a services town, at 4 feet above sea level.4 ft
NaplesLast city services on the west side before US 41 crosses the swamp. Tyres, fuel and a dealer network within reach of the preserve.4 ft
OchopeeOn the Tamiami Trail at the heart of Big Cypress. The preserve’s headquarters address, and the Loop Road and the Turner River loop both leave the highway within a few miles.4 ft
Everglades CityThe Gulf Coast entrance to Everglades National Park, on the water at the end of SR 29. The lowest town in this guide by the USGS measurement.1 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Britton HillThe highest point in Florida, in Walton County in the western panhandle. Our own 3DEP query at the USGS point reads 339 feet345 ft
Sugarloaf MountainLake County, on the Lake Wales Ridge north of Clermont. Measured for this chart from the 3DEP surface; no agency publishes a figure for it309 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
