Florida's Cycling Gem: the Withlacoochee Trail State Park

I rode six hours on Sunday --92 miles.  Where can  you find a good, safe place to cycle for such a distance?  At the Withlacoochee Trail, part of Florida's greenways and trails park system. The trail is 46 miles long, and runs from just north of Dade City, in Pasco County, to just south of Dunnellon, in Marion County.  The trail is a smooth paved surface, with not too many cross streets --really only one that is busy, and it too is safe and easy to cross.  Depending on what time of day you ride, a large portion of the trail is shaded, either from the trees on the sides or simply because of the canopy overhead.  Although there is some development on the sides of the trail in places, it is largely wooded and in places it is quite rural.  There are only a few places where there is traffic noise from nearby roads --in contrast to the Suncoast Trail which runs 42 miles along the Veterans and Suncoast Parkways and is extremely noisy.  The largest town through which the trail runs is Inverness. 

There are two centuries which are held on the trail:  the Rails-to-Trails ride in October and the Clean Air Ride in March.  I have ridden both.  The trail is flat for the most part, with only slight elevations here and there.  It is an enjoyable ride.

A. Brian Albritton
August 13, 2012