Withalacoochee State Trail

Whew! I am behind in my blogging! The last portion of the semester I began working at the vet clinic again and have had little time to sit down and write much at all. So lets get caught up!

A while back I decided it was time to do a little more traveling on the Florida trail and headed West of my home town to visit the Withalacoochee State Trail. This trail is a 46 mile paved trail from Dunnellon down to Brooksville (or a little bit past it). The section of trail used to be a railroad bed, but after falling into dis-use was converted into a Rails-to-trails project.

Gulf Junction Trailhead

I own a bike and so I decided to load it on to the back of my car and head over to do a section of trail. Now if you own a fancy light weight road bike you could easily spend a day and knock out the whole 46 miles of trail. Most people either do it section by section, or tackle it in tow days. My bike is super cute.....and extremely heavy. I have a beach cruiser with a wicker basket and bell. Hahah...I know all of you bike enthusiasts are rolling your eyes at me right now. Here's the thing...I am not a big bike person. Obviously. I got my bike to ride to and from the grocery store when the weather is nice. For long distance riding it's a poor choice, but it's what I had so I hit the trail with it anyways.

I bought a cup holder :)

I started out at the North end of the trail in Citrus Springs. The trailhead is called the Gulf Junction Trailhead and can be accessed after winding around in a residential area. There is a bathroom at this trailhead along with a kiosk that has trail information. Here you can pick up a milage chart and map. I've scanned and uploaded the milage chart for you below.

I rode from the Gulf Junction Trailhead down past the Citrus Springs Trailhead...

.....past a historic phosphate mining pit....

......to the Hernando Trailhead. I've found that on many maps I've seen online the Hernando Trailhead is not mentioned, but don't let that fool you, it's definitely there.   It has some benches to rest on, a bathroom and water fountain. Also, in that general area there are several places where you can stop and get some lunch if you'd like. 

I think this trip down was about 11 miles or so and then back up to where I started. Years ago in Colorado I could easily ride 20-30 miles around town on my bike and feel pretty good about that, but on my beach cruiser it's a different story. The bike is so heavy that getting down and back on it was exhausting! If you decide to go, be smart about what you ride and how far you choose to go. I feel like there is much more to explore along this trail, but I probably won't be taking it on with the beach cruiser! Below you can see my tracks as I went down and back. Enjoy!