Felburn Park Trailhead on the Withlacoochee Bay Trail

Local Places, Local Faces

We had a wonderful time visiting family in North Dakota, it was nice taking our daily morning walk in 60 degree weather–and wearing a jacket!  But we’re back in Florida and attempting to return to our routine–starting with our weekly bike rides. On our most recent ride we went to the Felburn Trailhead on the Cross-Florida Barge Canal.  It’s only about a 30 minute drive for us and the views are spectacular.

Felburn Park Trailhead on the Withlacoochee Bay Trail
Felburn Park Trailhead on the Withlacoochee Bay Trail

We’ve been to this trailhead a few times but have never rode east so we headed out in that direction.  This section starts with a hill—a bit of challenge for us flatlanders!  The paved trail runs along the canal on one side and a lake on the other.  I had read that the trail had been extended but we had gone just a little more than a mile before we came across “Trail End” sign. A two mile round trip wasn’t quite enough, so we turned around and headed west.

Felburn Trailhead
End of the Road! By the way, we got there before 8 am and no one threw us out of the park!
Felburn Trailhead
Lake on one side…
Felburn Trailhead
barge canal on the other.
Felburn Trailhead
Maggie and Terry

If you do the whole trail it’s about 12 miles.  There are a few hills but most of the trail is flat and all of it is scenic.  There is no road noise from any major highways which makes it a treat.  Going west, a large portion of the trail runs along the Cross Florida Barge Canal then switches to run along hammock and the salt marshes of the Gulf of Mexico.  The turnaround point is at a pavilion on the water.

Felburn Trailhead
The trail ends at the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Felburn Trailhead
Pretty view on the Gulf side.
Felburn Trailhead
Crystal River Power Plant. No longer nuclear–just spewing smoke from coal.
Felburn Trailhead
Barge Canal side, tides a little low.
Felburn Trailhead
Kayak on the Gulf side.

We got to the trail really early so we were the first ones to use it that day.  We saw a few rabbits–lucky for them, Maggie was in her basket!  Also a family of three deer which leapt away before I could get my camera out.   On our way back we did see a few bicyclist and a couple of guys fishing, but it was pretty much our own private trail.

Felburn Trailhead
Back to the trailhead
Felburn Trailhead
Goodbye, we’ll be back!

It’s a beautiful area and a true representation of the “Nature Coast”.

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