Open carry while hiking in Florida is not legal as a standalone activity. Florida bans openly carrying a firearm in public, and hiking for exercise, scenery, or fitness is not one of the activities the law carves out. The only way to openly carry on a trail is if the hike is genuinely part of a camping, fishing, or hunting trip. For everyone else, the practical legal option is concealed carry, which Florida now allows without a license for eligible adults 21 and older.
Florida’s Open Carry Ban
Florida prohibits the open carrying of firearms in public. A violation is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail.1Justia Law. Florida Code 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons2FindLaw. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties, Applicability of Sentencing Structures, Notification to Department of Corrections The rule applies the same way on a sidewalk in town as it does on a trail in the woods.
Florida’s 2023 permitless carry law did not change this. It authorized concealed carry without a license for eligible adults, but left the open carry prohibition intact.
The Camping, Fishing, and Hunting Exception
The one legal path to open carry on a Florida trail runs through Florida Statute 790.25(3)(h). That provision exempts people who are fishing, camping, or lawfully hunting, along with people traveling to or from those activities, from the open carry ban.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
Look closely at the list. It names fishing, camping, and hunting. Hiking is not on it. Neither is backpacking, birdwatching, or trail running. So the exception only helps a hiker when the hike is part of one of those covered activities. Walking a trail to reach your campsite with a rifle on your shoulder falls within the exception. Walking the same trail on a Saturday morning with a holstered pistol in plain view, purely for exercise, does not.
The “traveling to or from” language matters too. It is read to mean a reasonably direct trip. Stopping for gas on the way to the campground is fine. Running errands across town with an exposed firearm before eventually heading out gets harder to defend as a legitimate travel leg. If the route doesn’t look like a direct trip to a covered destination, the exception weakens.
Concealed Carry Is the Practical Option
For most hikers thinking about wildlife or personal safety on the trail, concealed carry is the straightforward legal choice. Since July 2023, Florida has allowed any person who meets the eligibility criteria for a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License to carry concealed without holding the license.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons
To qualify, you must be at least 21, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and free of disqualifying factors like felony convictions, domestic violence injunctions, drug-related charges, and mental health adjudications. If you’d qualify for the license, you can carry concealed without one.
Concealed means what it sounds like. The firearm cannot be visible to ordinary observation. On a hike, that typically means an inside-the-waistband holster under a shirt, a concealment vest, or a pack designed for concealed carry. A firearm in a hip holster with nothing covering it is open carry, and that puts you back inside the misdemeanor unless the camping, fishing, or hunting exception applies.
Federal Land: National Forests and National Parks
Florida has three national forests (Apalachicola, Ocala, and Osceola) and several national park units. The possession rules on both defer to state law, but the details around them differ.
National Forests
National forests follow Florida law on firearm possession, so both the camping, fishing, and hunting exception for open carry and the concealed carry rules apply on national forest trails. Federal rules add a discharge restriction: no firing a weapon within 150 yards of any residence, building, campsite, or developed recreation area.5eCFR. 36 CFR 261.10 – Occupancy and Use Individual forests can designate additional shooting restrictions, especially during high fire-risk periods.
National Parks
National park units in Florida, including Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas, also defer to state law on possession. Federal law bars the National Park Service from prohibiting firearms in a park unit as long as the person possessing the firearm is legally allowed to have it under the law of the state where the park sits.6GovInfo. 54 USC 104906 – Protection of Right of Individuals to Bear Arms Concealed carry while hiking in a Florida national park is therefore legal for eligible adults.
Two restrictions still apply inside national parks. Discharging a firearm is prohibited unless the park is one where hunting is specifically authorized by federal statute. And firearms are banned inside all federal facilities, which in a park means visitor centers, ranger stations, fee buildings, and administrative offices. Those buildings are typically posted.7National Park Service. Firearms in National Parks
State Parks and Wildlife Management Areas
State Parks
Florida state parks generally follow state firearm law. Concealed carry is permitted for eligible adults, and the camping, fishing, or hunting exception applies where those activities are allowed. Some parks are stricter under their own statutes. Savannas Preserve State Park, for example, bars firearm possession by anyone other than law enforcement or conservation officers, aside from compliance with Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission regulations for lands within its boundaries.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 258.157 – Prohibited Acts in Savannas State Reserve Check the posted rules or call the ranger station before you go.
Wildlife Management Areas
Wildlife management areas are run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and their firearm rules turn on what you’re doing there. During authorized hunting seasons, possessing firearms appropriate to the hunt is allowed. The general 790.25 exception for camping and fishing also applies. Outside those contexts, FWC rules typically require firearms to be securely encased when stored in a vehicle, vessel, or at a campsite. Individual WMAs publish their own regulations covering seasons, permitted weapons, and access, so check the FWC page for the specific area before your trip.
Places That Stay Off-Limits
Even inside a legitimate camping trip that would otherwise support open carry, Florida designates locations where no civilian can bring a firearm. The list applies regardless of a concealed weapon license, permitless carry, or the fishing and camping exception.9Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.