When we first encountered the Bartram Trail, it was as a series of state historic markers scattered across Florida. We'd seen them at places like Paynes Prairie, Manatee Springs, and Mead Gardens, and knew they were connected to William Bartram, a naturalist who, in 1773 and 1774, explored Florida on foot and by canoe. Two centuries after his journey, the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs started placing these markers in key spots across the state. During the Bicentennial, a Bartram Trail Conference was established to help research and site these markers, and to grow public interest about Bartram's Travels.