Explore the best rated trails in Ocala, FL, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Withlacoochee State Trail and Neighborhood Lakes Scenic Trail . With more than 33 trails covering 412 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
This trail offers wide smooth pavement. The forest is dense surrounding most of the trail and gives one the feel of isolation. This is a great ride on sunny days as most of it is covered by tree canopies. The only bad part of this trail is lack of parking or easy access at both ends of the trail. A road bike can not manage the sandy dirt trail of a mile to get to trail at the westernmost parking lot.
Beautiful trail with bridge views which offers the perfect spot to see gators! After crossing bridge heading north you have swamplands on sides of trail with the traditional live oaks and Spanish moss which is very scenic. Ends with ramp launch into river. This is a very popular trail and very short so it can be crowded with walkers and cyclists. Enjoy!
Pick a cloudy day and maybe a mountain bike. Lots of gators and birds. We started from the green mountain trail head and I would start at one of the other trailheads instead. They spent so much on the trail head that there is no money to maintain the trail and the first two miles are extremely rough.
Very disappointing. Nothing special about the trail itself. the homeless encampment and trash was unsettling. Also many men loitering about. I did not feel safe. So many other nicer places to bike this is just not worth it.
This was nice and level, easy parking at either end, part sun and part shaded (although mostly sun), but you will be passing by a few homeless encampments. No one came out to bother us, but just something to be aware of your surroundings. As an older female rider, I probably wouldn't do this ride again alone. But it was an interesting ride, nonetheless. When we got to the end in downtown Leesburg, there are lots of great places to eat.
I started this trail at the southern entrance. I got less than 3 miles into my bike ride and turned around. Too many intersections with heavy traffic. Perhaps this trail is better towards the northern end.
Parked at historic train station. Headed east and after a mile or so found the trail is closed by Duke Energy to update electrical poles. Back to the truck, reloaded our bikes and headed to Mondon Hill Road and parked the truck. Took off for Withlacoochee Trail. On the return ride we spotted a fox squirrel, a hawk having dinner, and a free range chicken. Nice ride!
The west end towards Gainesville is quite a bit different than the east end at Hawthorne. The Hawthorne end offers good cycling with a road bike. The Gainesville end not so much. It has a lot of severe tree root damage, sharp curves, and suprisingly steep hills. Once you get thru that in the first 5 miles the trail straightens out and runs parallel to a busy and noisy road. Great.
We rode it 3 times and finally agreed it wasn't worth the effort. With the 2 overlooks onto Paynes Prairie and the Al Lucha trail within the first 3 miles, this end of the trail lends itself to walking or riding an ebike. The ebike negates the hills and would have larger tires that would absorb all the bumpiness.
The east end was rural with fewer people and was more suitable for someone wanting to actually bike.
Agree with all the comments on beauty. No place to buy food or beverages on the trail. Several picnic sites. Only use bottle water dispenser not hoses for water
I agree with another post, women should be very aware of areas of this trail. Many young men on drugs it appears in areas where things could go bad in a hurry
On our visit to Florida and first time in the saddle in six months we opted for a short day, about 20 miles. We parked at the Copper library which was convenient and had nice bathrooms and water. There are new developments and a shopping complex since the details to this trail were written. At about mile 5 there is a Publix, Starbucks and a few more retail stores. There were a lot of roads to cross and hills to climb. We opted for a 6 mile round trip down the intersecting Lake Shore trail to Minneola Lake. That was a nice, scenic section. Overall a good day to start our season.
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