Withlacoochee State Trail

Longest multi-purpose trail in Florida (U.S.)

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Withlacoochee State Trail

Withlacoochee State Trail looking northwest at the point where it makes a tee intersection with the Good Neighbor Trail

Length| 46 mi (74 km)
Location| Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties, USA
Designation|

IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Trailheads|

* Gulf Junction
* South Citrus Springs
* Holder
* Hernando
* Inverness
* Floral City
* Istachatta
* Ridge Manor
* Trilby
* Owensboro Junction

Use| Hiking/Biking/Horses
Hazards| Steep embankments, swampland
Trail map
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; -82.21806
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

[edit]

The original railroad line was formed sometime in the 1880s. It connected with what is now the Florida Northern Railroad in Citrus Springs with what is now CSX's Wildwood Subdivision (S Line) in Owensboro (a train junction, south of Trilby).

In 1892, the Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad (SSO&G) built the original railroad line through Inverness and Hernando and the South Florida Railroad built from Inverness south. In 1902, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) acquired both the SFR and the SSO&G. The segment was officially declared as the DuPont—Lakeland Line, part of a passenger rail route that afforded a more direct path from Georgia to Gulf Coast tourist destinations. From the 1920s up to 1957, the ACL carried the daily Southland over this line. South of Trilby the route split and there were two different western Florida destinations: train 33 (train 32 northbound) via Atlantic Coast Line tracks to Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater, St. Petersburg; and train 37 (train 38 northbound) splitting off the route at Trilby to Zephyrhills, to Tampa and then to Bradenton and Sarasota. Additionally, an unnamed train ran from Jacksonville over this route, also to St. Petersburg.[2] In 1946, an overpass was built to carry a realigned US 301 at Owensboro over both the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad tracks.

In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line Railroads merged to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. SCL merged with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and other railroads to form the Seaboard System Railroad in 1982, and in 1986 was merged with the Chessie System to form CSX Railroad. CSX decided to abandon the 47-mile railroad in 1987. In 1989 the state bought the railroad for their "rail-to-trails" program.

## Route description

[edit]

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 runs under I-75 as it continues north and about a mile from there intersects the Good Neighbor Trail at 28°35'22.2"N 82°13'42.3"W. From there it runs 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.[3] Within Inverness itself, the trail runs under State Road 44, with access trails on both sides running east. North of there, the trail runs through Cooter Pond Park, Wallace Brooks Park and Liberty Park, then uses a former railroad bridge over a section of Lake Henderson. Beneath the bridge under US 41, another trail leads to Whispering Pines Park, and from there it makes a right curve around White Lake. Just south of the intersection with East Arlington Street, it runs relatively close to the west side of US 41. In Hernando, the trail is briefly detoured around County Road 486 for one block, then resumes its use of the former railroad right-of-way. Before reaching Holder, it has an intersection with another trail leading to the Central Ridge District Park. North of there it continues through Citrus CR 491 in Holder, and Citrus Springs, where it finally ends at Gulf Junction just south of Dunnellon.

Since the widening of County Road 486, a multi-use path along that route follows it west passing through County Road 491, and connected to State Road 44 by the end of 2013. In May 2013, the State of Florida had 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.[4]

## Parking

[edit]

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 on Croom-Rital Road, Silver Lake Campground, Townsen Lake Regional Park off C.R. 476, Desoto Trail Kiosk off U.S. 41, Wallace Brooks Park and Liberty Park in Inverness, South Citrus Springs Trailhead and Gulf Junction Trailhead, both of which are in Citrus Springs.

## Hazards

[edit]

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

## See also

[edit]

* Suncoast trail
* Good Neighbor Trail
* Hardy Trail

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Withlacoochee State Trail (Florida Greenways and Trails)
2. ^ "Atlantic Coast Line, Tables 13, 22". Official Guide of the Railways. 72 (10). National Railway Publication Company. March 1940.
3. ^ DanTD (April 12, 2010). WST Fort Cooper Entrance.JPG (photograph). Retrieved March 6, 2013. `{{cite AV media}}`: External link in ``|people=`` (help)
4. ^ "Some positive trailbuilding news from Florida," by: Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney (BikeCommuters.com; May 10, 2013)

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Withlacoochee State Trail.

* Withlacoochee Trail State Park at Florida's Greenways & Trails
* Hernando County Biking at official Hernando County Government site
* Withlacoochee State Trail at Absolutely Florida
* Withlacoochee State Trail at Wildernet
* Rails to Trails of the Withlacoochee
* Withlacoochee State Trail at 100 Florida Trails
* Withlacoochee State Trail (AllTrails.com)

* v
* t
* e

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

| National Estuarine Research Reserves|

* Apalachicola
* Guana Tolomato Matanzas
* Rookery Bay

|

National Forests|

* Apalachicola
* Choctawhatchee
* Ocala
* Osceola

National Marine Sanctuaries|

* Florida Keys

National Memorials|

* De Soto
* Fort Caroline

National Monuments|

* Castillo de San Marcos
* Fort Matanzas

National Parks|

* Biscayne
* Dry Tortugas
* Everglades

National Preserves|

* Big Cypress
* Timucuan Ecological

National Seashores|

* Canaveral
* Gulf Islands

National Trails|

* Florida

National Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Loxahatchee River
* Wekiva River

National Wildlife Refuges|

* Archie Carr
* Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee
* Caloosahatchee
* Cedar Keys
* Chassahowitzka
* Crocodile Lake
* Crystal River
* Three Sisters Springs
* Egmont Key
* Florida Panther
* Great White Heron
* Hobe Sound
* Island Bay
* J.N. 'Ding' Darling
* Key West
* Lake Wales Ridge
* Lake Woodruff
* Lower Suwannee
* Matlacha Pass
* Merritt Island
* National Key Deer
* Okefenokee
* Passage Key
* Pelican Island
* Pine Island
* Pinellas
* St. Johns
* St. Marks
* St. Vincent
* Ten Thousand Islands

Other|

* National Historic Landmarks
* National Natural Landmarks
* National Register of Historic Places
* Wilderness Areas

State level

| Parks|

* Amelia Island
* Anastasia
* Avalon
* Bahia Honda
* Bald Point
* Big Lagoon
* Big Shoals
* Big Talbot Island
* Bill Baggs Cape Florida
* Bulow Creek
* Caladesi Island
* Camp Helen
* Cayo Costa
* Collier–Seminole
* Colt Creek
* Curry Hammock
* Delnor-Wiggins Pass
* Devil's Millhopper
* Don Pedro Island
* Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson
* 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
* Grayton Beach
* Henderson Beach
* Highlands Hammock
* Honeymoon Island
* Hontoon Island
* Hugh Taylor Birch
* John D. MacArthur Beach
* John Pennekamp Coral Reef
* Jonathan Dickinson
* Little Talbot Island
* Long Key
* Lovers Key
* Mike Roess Gold Head Branch
* North Peninsula
* O'Leno
* Oscar Scherer
* Perdido Key
* Price's Scrub
* Sebastian Inlet
* Skyway Fishing Pier
* St. Andrews
* St. George Island
* St. Marks River
* St. Joseph Peninsula
* Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center
* Stump Pass Beach
* Tomoka
* Torreya
* Windley Key Fossil Reef

|

Botanical garden parks|

* Alfred B. Maclay Gardens
* Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock
* Lignumvitae Key
* Ravine Gardens
* Washington Oaks

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
* Dunns Creek
* Econfina River
* Hillsborough River
* Little Manatee River
* Myakka River
* Ochlockonee River
* Oleta River
* Suwannee River
* Three Rivers

* Blue Spring
* De Leon Springs
* Edward Ball Wakulla Springs
* Fanning Springs
* Homosassa Springs Wildlife
* Ichetucknee Springs
* Lafayette Blue Springs
* Madison Blue Spring
* Manatee Springs
* Ponce de Leon Springs
* Rainbow Springs
* Silver Springs
* Troy Spring
* Weeki Wachee Springs
* Wekiwa Springs
* Werner-Boyce Salt Springs
* Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation areas|

* Dead Lakes
* Gamble Rogers Memorial

Museums, historic sites,
and archaeological sites|

* Addison Blockhouse
* Cedar Key Museum
* Constitution Convention Museum
* Forest Capital Museum
* John Gorrie 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
* 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-Love Mounds
* Madira Bickel Mound
* Mound Key
* San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and reserves|

* Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek
* Anclote Key
* Cedar Key Scrub
* Charlotte Harbor
* Crystal River
* Disney Wilderness
* Estero Bay
* Green Cay Wetlands
* Fakahatchee Strand
* 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|

* Blackwater Heritage
* Florida Keys Overseas Heritage
* Gainesville-Hawthorne
* General James A. Van Fleet
* Jacksonville-Baldwin
* Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway
* Nature Coast
* Palatka-Lake Butler
* Palatka-to-St. Augustine
* Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad
* Withlacoochee

State forests|

* Belmore
* Big Shoals
* Blackwater River
* Carl Duval Moore
* Cary
* Charles H. Bronson
* Cottage Hill
* Deep Creek
* Etoniah Creek
* Four Creeks
* Goethe
* Holopaw
* Indian Lake
* Jennings
* John M. 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

Local level

| Preserves and reserves|

* Blowing Rocks
* Boyd Hill
* Corkscrew Swamp
* Gumbo Limbo
* Moccasin Lake
* Weedon Island

|

* Category
* Commons

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