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.
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.
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.
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.
It’s a beautiful area and a true representation of the “Nature Coast”.
Thank you for the tour. It was beautiful.
It was a beautiful day!