Withlacoochee State Trail

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Withlacoochee State Trail
Sign at the entrance of Citrus Springs Trailhead
Length	46 mi (74 km)
Location	Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties, USA
Trailheads	Citrus Springs, Florida Trilacoochee, Florida
Use	Hiking/Biking/Horses
Hiking details
Hazards	Steep embankments, swampland

Withlacoochee State Trail
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Location	Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties, USA
Nearest city	Dunnellon / Trilby
Coordinates	28°31′23″N 82°13′05″W / 28.52306°N 82.21806°W / 28.52306; -82.21806Coordinates: 28°31′23″N 82°13′05″W / 28.52306°N 82.21806°W / 28.52306; -82.21806
Area	46 mile length
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Withlacoochee State Trail is a 46-mile (74 km) long paved, multi-use, non-motorized rail trail in Florida located in Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties. It follows along the Withlacoochee River and passes through the Withlacoochee State Forest. It is the longest paved rail trail in Florida.^[1]

History

The original railroad line was formed sometime in the 1880s as the Inverness and Brooksville railway. It connected with the Florida Northern Railroad in Citrus Springs and with the South Florida Railroad (SFR) in Dade City.

In 1892, the Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad (SSO&G) built an extension through Inverness and Hernando, and in 1893 the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) acquired the SFR as well as the SSO&G. In 1946 ACL built a bridge over the Seaboard Air Line Railroad tracks and the newly aligned US 301.

In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line Railroads merged to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. In 1987 CSX decided to abandon the 47 mile railroad. In 1989 the state bought the railroad for their "rail-to-trails" program.

The route

Withlacoochee State Trail signpost commemorating the Great Train Wreck of 1956 in Pineola

The southern terminus is at U.S. 98/301 south of Trilby. The trail goes 6 miles (9.7 km) north to a crossover of U.S. 98/SR 50, a mile east of I-75 and 40 miles (64 km) north past the Silver Lake Campground in the Withlacoochee State Forest, close to the Withlacoochee River. The trail continues north through Nobleton, Istachatta, and then crosses the Hernando-Citrus County Line into Pineola, the site of the Great Train Wreck of 1956.

As it enters Floral City, it runs much closer to and parallel to US 41. South of Inverness across from Citrus County Speedway and the Inverness Airport, there is a paid access trail leading to Fort Cooper State Park.^[2] Within Inverness itself, the trail runs under State Road 44, with access trails on both sides running east. Beneath the bridge under US 41, another trail leads to Whispering Pines Park. In Hernando, the trail is briefly detoured around County Road 486, then continues through Holder, and Citrus Springs, where it finally ends at Gulf Junction just south of Dunnellon.

However, County Road 486 has been widened and a multi-use path follows it west until it hits County Road 491, and will connect to State Road 44 by the end of 2013. The state of Florida has just approved funding for the Coast to Coast Connector, some of which will include connecting the Withlacoochee State Trail to the Claridoma-Ocoee Connector Trail in Lake County, which will then connect all the way to the east coast, terminating on Merritt Island. The Coast to Coast Connector will also connect the Withlacoochee State Trail to the Suncoast Trail, which follows the Suncoast Parkway south to Tampa.^[3]

Parking

Parking for the trail is located off U.S. 98/301 at the Owensboro Junction Trailhead, C.R. 575 / Trilby Trailhead, S.R. 50 Trailhead, Silver Lake Campground, Townsen Lake Regional Park off C.R. 476, Desoto Trail Kiosk off U.S. 41, Wallace Brooks Park in Inverness, South Citrus Springs Trailhead and Gulf Junction Trailhead, which is also in Citrus Springs.

Hours

Florida state parks are open between 8 a.m. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).

Hazards

Steep embankments, most notably north of Inverness and between Istachatta and Floral City.
Swampland between Istachatta and Pineola.

References

↑ Withlacoochee State Trail (Florida Greenways and Trails)
↑ DanTD (April 12, 2010). WST Fort Cooper Entrance.JPG (photograph). Retrieved March 6, 2013.
↑ "Some positive trailbuilding news from Florida," by: Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney (BikeCommuters.com; May 10, 2013)

External links

Withlacoochee Trail State Park at Florida's Greenways & Trails
Hernando County Hiking Trails at official Hernando County Government site
Withlacoochee State Trail at Absolutely Florida
Withlacoochee State Trail at Wildernet
Rails to Trails of the Withlacoochee
Paving the way to the bay - Ocala Star-Banner - Jun 18, 2004

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Withlacoochee State Trail.

Protected areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Highlands Hammock Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson Mike Roess Gold Head Branch Navarre Beach North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Ravine Gardens River Bluff Picnic Site Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Upper Tampa Bay Park Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Washington Oaks State Gardens

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Econfina River Guana River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Silver Springs Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Springs Manatee Springs Rainbow Springs Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Dead Lakes Dunns Creek Gamble Rogers Memorial Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Honeymoon Island Oleta River Perdido Key Ponce de Leon Springs St. Andrews Three Rivers

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie State Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Little Salt Spring Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Grassy Lake Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast State Trail Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Public Lands Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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