Herping Hotspots near Tampa, FL

[pagliarini1]

Hey guys,
I am heading to visit a friend in Tampa, FL the 1st/2nd weeks of Jan. As I am new to the area, and my firend, who is a FL native, is new to field herping, I am wondering if anyone could suggest some good herping spots around Tampa; maybe like 3-4hrs or less. I would love to see a Hot snake while out there (no hot snakes in RI, where i am from). Any suggestions/help would be much appreciated!!

Mark

[IW17]

Everglades are about a 4 hour drive from Tampa, and that's about as good as it gets. You can check out Fort Desoto, between St Petersburg and Sarasota. Another cool one is to go to any of the numerous state parks built around the natural springs. There are a bunch within 1-2 hours of Tampa. Salt Springs, manatee Springs, weeki wachi, Crystal River Springs, etc. And more locally there are a lot of lakes around Hillsborough and Pinellas County, most of which have parks with board walks and hiking trails. This time of year is hit or miss depending on weather, but you should be able to find enough to make it worth it.