Rob Rogers
Author, attorney, backpacker, and lover of the outdoors
2025 Florida Authors & Association (FAPA) President’s Book Awards, Winner of the Bronze Medal for Autobiography/Memoir
2025 Independent Author Network (IAN) Book of the Year Awards, Finalist for Nonfiction: Mind/Body/Spirit
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Walmart, ThriftBooks, AbeBooks, and the Sunshine Book Co. in Clermont, Fla.
“The strongest part of Rogers’s writing is in his raw honesty regarding his emotions and moods; he balances an almost-compulsive devotion to nature with realistic responses to the conflicts that come when interacting with others, emerging on the other side with a curiosity and hopeful expectation of the future. The areas he hikes come alive, unfolding through candid descriptions and personal photographs that transport readers directly into his journey.”
Critic’s Report, The BookLife Prize
Essays (creative writing)
“Trail to the Past,” Intervals (Apr. 20, 2026)
Thorn & Bloom
“Campfire Beside the Prairie,” Thorn & Bloom, Mar. 2026 (Issue 5)
“Cognitive Distortion,” Thorn & Bloom, Sept. 2025 (Issue 3)
The NightWriter Review
“Mardi Gras ’95,” The Night Writer Review, Mar. 2026 (Winter 2025/2026) (2025 Golden Quill Writing Contest–1st Place for Nonfiction)
Big Sky Journal
“The First Run of the Season,” Big Sky Journal, Feb. 2026 (Fly Fishing 2026)
The Gardan Journal
“Anger Sister,” The Gardan Journal, Jan. 2026 (Vol. 10)
Ponder Review
“Morning Coffee,” Ponder Review, Dec. 2025 (Vol. 9, Issue 2)–Nominated for Pushcart Prize
Bacopa Literary Review
“Baby Bear,” Bacopa Literary Review (2025)
Four Tulips
“Boynton Canyon,” Four Tulips (Nov. 12, 2025)
“Coining Out,” Four Tulips (New Beginnings writing contest–Honorable Mention) (May 30, 2025)
Articles on Backpacking and Hiking
Outdoors Unlimited
“Backpacking Beside the Baltic Sea,” Outdoors Unlimited (Fall 2025)
Go World Travel
“Bogesundslandet Nature Reserve: Backpacking Paradise Minutes from Stockholm,” Go World Travel (June 22, 2025)
The Footpath Newsletter
“Withlacoochee State Forest’s Richloam Tract, Now Restored from Hurricane Damage, is Dry, Green, and Perfect for Spring Hiking,” The Footpath Newsletter (Florida Trail Association, Central Florida Chapter), May 2026
“For Summer Hiking in Utah, the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park Should Not Be Missed,” The Footpath Newsletter (Florida Trail Association, Central Florida Chapter), Apr. 2026
Articles (Backpacking and Hiking)
RECENT BLOG POSTS
As the summer heat bears down and the evening mosquitoes return, weekend city slicker backpackers like me are finally putting away their tents for the season and using their boots only for early morning hikes before the temperatures get too high. Along with our region’s state and national forests, many counties in Central Florida offer…
Not far from Lakeland lies a local favorite fishing and hiking spot that attempts, not altogether unsuccessfully, to hide its industrial past. Half a century ago, the Tenoroc Public Use Area was a collection of phosphate mines that, at the time, would not have attracted much interest from nature-loving hikers. Fast forward 50 years later,…
I have the privilege of participating this Friday and Saturday in two events celebrating literature and the arts, and at one of them, I’ll be reading my latest essay titled “Trail to the Past,” which was published yesterday in Intervals. If you happen to be in Gainesville or the Clermont area, you should consider checking…
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