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Go Biking off the Beaten Path
Florida’s award-winning network of biking trails provides abundant opportunities to enjoy peaceful rides, from remote off-road adventures to nearby hidden gems. Here are some under-the-radar options to check out
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Explore 32 miles of rural North Central Florida on the lush paths of the Nature Coast State Trail as it rolls through Dixie, Levy and Gilchrist counties, tracing the historic route of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The trail is paved and T-shaped, not linear like most bike paths. You’ll find the intersection at Wilcox Junction, with the nearest trailhead located in Fanning Springs. Trail highlights include abundant deer, turkeys and other wildlife and a ride across the early-1900s, red steel trestle bridge spanning the Suwannee River. Most of the route is aligned with U.S. Highway 19 and State Road 26, with trailheads sited within the five linked downtown villages, making it easy to access the trail as well as being handy for places to stay and eat.
Trails along the Cross Florida Greenway range from mild to wild.
Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail
A 10-foot-wide paved railbed, the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail is only 16 miles long, but it traverses some of the most scenic areas found on any bike path, making it a favorite ride of nature-seekers. The trail and a grassy equine path alongside it head east from the gorgeous Boulware Springs Park and Historic Waterworks, the site of Gainesville’s first settlement, complete with picnic facilities, parking and a place to unload horses. On its way to rural Hawthorne, the trail crosses Prairie Creek as it passes through the 22,000-acre Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park and Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area. The path offers a series of small hills — a rarity among rail-trails — as well as gracefully arched plank bridges traversing several creeks and informative markers with details about the area’s rich history of plantations, citrus groves and cattle ranches. Several tiny rail-station towns still survive.
Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway
Stretching from coastal Citrus County northeast to the St. Johns River, this 110-mile greenway celebrates the beauty and variety of Florida’s natural resources with biking trails that range from wild to mild. One of the unique features of the Cross Florida Greenway is a land bridge that allows wildlife like bobcats, coyote, wild turkey and Florida black bears — as well as nonmotorized travelers like bikers, hikers and horseback riders — to pass safely over Interstate 75 near Ocala. The 200-foot-long structure, completed in 2000, has the distinct honor of being America’s first land bridge.
