Wild Trails Club members Hazel Schaub, Theresa Santilli, Hailey Hill, Mary McReynolds, and Johnny Owens pose at Falling Waters State Park, home to Florida’s tallest waterfall because it falls into a 70 foot deep sinkhole. Photo courtesy of Hazel Schaub ’26
Under a dark sky in the Florida panhandle, Eckerd College students sat around a campfire, listening to coyotes and barred owls and swapping stories after a day spent exploring caves.
For members of the Wild Trails Hiking Club, experiences like this have quickly become a part of campus life.
The club was founded in Spring 2024 by Mary McReynolds, a senior majoring in marine science and environmental studies from Hazard, Kentucky, and Hazel Schaub, a junior studying marine science from Spokane, Washington.
On a Spring Break service trip to Ocala National Forest north of Orlando, Mary and Hazel worked on trail maintenance with the Florida Trail Association.
While on the trip, they began to question why Eckerd didn’t have a club planning more excursions to explore Florida’s natural spaces.
“We were like, what don’t we know about Florida’s nature?” Hazel recalls.“Why isn’t Eckerd more active in Florida’s parks?”
The club also explores caves.
The club got over 250 members at its first club fair, organizing and going on day trips and overnight camping trips across Florida, from kayaking and hiking to guided tours of restoration sites. Many students join with little to no outdoor experience.
Hazel Schaub snapped this photo inside the cavern at Florida Caverns State Park on March 16.
“It’s always so cool whenever someone’s like ‘Yeah, I’ve never been hiking. I’ve never really been camping,’” Mary says. “It’s so cool that we get to facilitate that.”
A recent Spring Break trip to Florida Caverns State Park brought a group of students north for four days of camping, swimming in a nearby spring, and a ranger-led cave tour.
“It’s the only public air-filled cavern in Florida,” Mary explains. “Everything else is on private land or doesn’t have air.”
Beyond the caves, students experienced Florida’s wildlife up close.
At night, temperatures dropped unexpectedly low, to 28 degrees, but the experience brought the group closer together.
Accessibility remains central to the club—trips are designed to be low-cost or free with transportation, campsites, and some gear provided.
“We’ve done guided tours at a lot of restoration preserves,” Hazel explains. “One of the more impressive ones that’s pretty close is Robinson Preserve. It used to be farmland, and they totally restructured it to allow for the growth of mangroves.”
The group has also toured with Director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program Maya Burke, an experience that allowed students to see conservation efforts happening close to campus.
“One of our newest club leaders had never really camped or hiked before,” Mary says, “Now she’s been on basically every single trip we’ve done.”
Club members hike trails to experience Florida’s natural environments.
