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Print Friendly MapThe Little Econ Greenway trail is just one section of the Orlando area's many fine trails. The trail offers riverside recreation, picnicking, wildlife watching, and canoe trails. It also features a canal system that you can paddle along. Whether on land or water, you can watch for wildlife, including osprey, red-shouldered hawks, turtles and alligators. In addition, the butterfly garden along the trail is a delight.
The trail will eventually link to the University of Central Florida and continue north to the Cross Seminole Trail system through the city of Oviedo and back to Blanchard Park. There are also plans to extend the western terminus of the Little Econ Greenway to the Cady Way Trail at Lake Baldwin.
Parking is available at several places along the trail, including Jay Blanchard Park, Econ Soccer Complex, Arcadia Acres, and on Harrel Road just north of Colonial Drive. There is also a paved trailhead on the north side of SR 50, just east of Goldenrod Road.
For more information on trail amenities, refer to the Little Econ Greenway brochure. View the TrailLink map for all the locations of all amenities and parking options, as well as detailed directions.
Great trail, but closed in at least 2 sections for repairs
Never feels “packed” and nice scenery!
I’ve seen rabbits, otters and gators while riding this trail (different occasions for each.) The path is well maintained and great for inlines. Not all of it is scenic, there are many parts that run directly behind peoples houses or school fields. For me the scenic areas are worth the spots that are less so.
Park at Blanchard park. The trail is asphalt and well maintained. Very scenic. Worth the ride.
Going east on the trail at Rouse Rd there is no marking as to where to continue. I thought i was at the end. I'll have to go back another time to complete it.
Great for biking, skating, running, walking you name it. Nice wide paved path so there’s room for everybody. Scenic ride along the water with fun spots over and under bridges. Lots of benches and water fountains to stop at along the way.
Grew up going to Blanchard park but finally did the trail. Very scenic near the river but there is parts where you are behind peoples houses and the river becomes a small ditch. For a more scenic view recommend starting from the parking next to the dealership and head East n finish at the end of Blanchard park.
Training for a marathon. There are water fountains and bathrooms all along the path. It is scenic, few over the road crossings. As a lone woman runner, it is relatively safe as it is well used, plenty of people around, few areas of isolation.
Trail difficulty is intermediate, but if you just want to take it easy, you can stick to the wide service trails. Definitely would recommend as it has great scenery with some wildlife.
I love near Sea World and have very few options for trails. This is about 30 minutes coda toll roads. The ride along the river is absolutely beautiful.
We parked at Blanchard park. Lots of parking. First rode east on our bikes towards Alafaya trail where it ends. Saw one deer by a retention pond, but the rest of the ride you just see suburban houses, most of which not well kept. The back of the high school.
We road back to Blanchard and then West. The river is wider and scenic here, but still seeing the backs of peoples houses. Very busy trail on a Sunday late morning, so good to see it is so well used.
Also a good job was done making a wide trail area, sections have wide mowed areas and trees for good visibility around turns and creates a nice park like feeling.
But once you pass the area around the Econ Soccer complex - don't bother to follow the trail towards Goldenrod Rd. The river becomes a ditch, and your just cutting between houses.
Obviously lots of people enjoy this trail which is great. Such a suburban trail is just not my thing.
It was shaded for the most part and wonderful scenery all around. Its not as long as I would have liked but I added miles in another way. Great for families.
A month after my right knee arthroscopic surgery, I started my walking therapy last year (2014) around this time, along the Blanchard Park piece of the trail. To date (April 2015), I covered close to 400 miles of running/walking on the same piece of the trail (Blanchard Park), It became part of my weekend (Saturday and Sunday)activities. I just don't get enough of the dynamics of the trail, every minutes/seconds of running/walking your surroundings' changes, you see different wildlife on the bank of econ river from all kinds of Florida birds to Alligators. There was one time I saw a huge snake crossing the asphalt trail they seem used to people running/biking back and forth of the trail.
I still wanted to cover from start (Alafaya) to end (Forsyth) back to Alafaya all in one day.
Overall, I would recommend to anyone to take advantage of this beautiful trail. I guarantee you would like the experience.
Great trail for a family ride. Lots of water fountains, rest rooms and wide trail. Mostly along water with limited road crossings.
This is a wonderful trail. Much of it is along the water and by parks so the the views are nice. I will definitely return to this trail.
Enjoyed this trail...just be prepared for a few wooden planked bridges.
My friend and I rode this trail today for the first time. Being beginner cycling enthusiasts, we had to say that this trail was simple, but very scenic. We saw many different birds, smaller animals and some incredible views.
Lots of place to stop off for water and to rest. And many friendly people along the way; joggers, bikers etc, going at both casual and higher speeds. We will definitely revisit this trail in the future
I have been biking this trail just about everyday for the last year now. My daughter and I ride together and enjoy going through Jay Blanchard park and then heading into the more remote areas where one can really enjoy the scenery and wild life. Would recomend this trail for runners and cyclists alike.
I miss running on this beautiful trail. Kept going there even after someone (at 11 AM on a Saturday) smashed my car window with a rock and stole my wallet and binoculars. Drove further to park near the post office on Econ Trail because I thought it was safer. Then a UCF student was murdered on the trail, and her body found near the post office. So I run elsewhere now. The detective I spoke with after the wallet theft said the trail is known for drug use and crime. Be aware.
Even more technically, if you peruse the west (left) side of the map, the Little Econ Greenway (LEG) ends at Forsyth Rd. Go north for a 1/4 mile and cross at the light to Hanging Moss Road and stay on the sidewalk on the near side (south-there's no bicycle lane on Hanging Moss Road). It will take you out to Semoran Blvd. Go left (stay on the sidewalk) and cross at the opposite side of the light to the trail on the south side of Baldwin Park St., which is Auvers Blvd. on the side of Semoran toward the LEG. This will take you right into the Cady Way and also into the Lake Baldwin branch.
It isn't too far, and is an easy connection.
Technically, the Little Econ and Cady Way Trails are connected. Where the Cady Way passes between Baldwin Park and Winter Pines Golf Club, it crosses Baldwin Park St. On the south side of Baldwin Park St there is a trail that runs east about a tenth of a mile to Semoran Blvd (SR 436). That is the western end of the Little Econ Trail. Between Semoran Blvd and Forsyth Rd, there is a missing link of about 1.1 miles. The Little Econ starts up again at the east side of Forsyth Rd, at about mile marker 1.3. It is possible to connect the two via some VERY busy city streets. I have an idea they don't have signs directing you to the other part of the trail because they don't want to be seen as encouraging trail users to take to busy streets/sidewalks.
What a beautiful trail, mostly sunny with shade and rest areas, restrooms available. Mega gators in the water and shore birds galore! The breeze and butterfly garden make it complete! Very scenic. Just wish it was longer. I heard it hooks up to Cady Way somewhere, but have not as yet seen where. Need a sign, please...
Did a ten mile ride on the trail this morning. Absolutely beautiful, especially where the trail runs along the water by the park. The trail surface is in great shape, and there are very few at-grade road crossings.
If you are headed East from Blanchard Park, take the second left as the trail approaches the YMCA. The first left takes you across a small bridge to a dead-end on the trail, and the pavement is in HORRIBLE condition there.
The second left swoops you around the YMCA facility, and it is much nicer :)
This trail pretty much rocks for inline skaters. It is amazingly clean and well maintained. The best bet from a security stand point is to park at Jay Blanchard Park. It is a VERY busy park even during lunch hours and vehicles are less likely to be broke into while you are away on the trail.
This trail reminds me a lot of the Upper Tampa Bay Trail in NW Tampa. Comparable length, much of which runs along a creek, lots of curves, and a mixture of easy road crossings and underpasses. I came to this trail a few years ago looking to kill time after taking a day-long exam at nearby University of Central Florida. I figured I'd take the bike with me and change clothes at the Blanchard trailhead off of Rouse Rd.
An older, but adequate bathroom was there for changing clothes, and there was plenty of activity at this park on this beautiful April day.
The trail is well marked all the way, in good condition, and the scenery is nice. I decided to not the take the trail all the way east as there was construction on Rouse Rd. at the time making passage more difficult than I wanted to deal with.
I took a little leg of the trail north to an old railroad bridge (IIRC) where it abruptly ended shortly thereafter. This was north of the Blanchard trailhead, near a YMCA location.
As someone else mentioned, there is a lot of activity near the trailheads, and small kids not paying attention can be a problem if you're not careful/patient. Just know they're there.
All in all, I throughly enjoyed my ride there and would do it again if I'm in the area with my bike (I live in Tampa).
I've ridden this trail twice and enjoyed it both times. The latest trip was this morning on my new Trek FX, so I was going at a good clip pretty much the whole time. The only drawback to this trail is the crowded conditions a little east of the Dean Rd parking area (had a little girl almost cross my path and had to brake hard). There also is abundant foot traffic and other bikes on the rest of the trail, so you want to remain alert at the handlebars. This, however, is offset by the lack of roads intersecting the trail. There are only three, and crossing hasn't been a big deal so far.
The trails asphalt condition and size is more than adequate for passing, evading, etc.... The scenery is wonderful because the Little Econ River is right there, along with associated wildlife. There are two areas with restrooms I know of, and a Tropical Smoothie in the YMCA facility east of Dean Rd.
I may hit this trail again tomorrow and will try to get to Cady Way trail from the Forsythe Rd end point as mentioned in prior reviews.
Tutanker
This trail is a great way to commute to/from UCF from/to downtown.
The trail goes from Alafaya and Science Dr. to Forsyth and Patridge from there you would need to
Go left on Forsyth till Hanging Moss
Left on Hanging Moss to Semoran
Left on Semoran to Baldwin Lake
This is all possible to do on a sidewalk.
And you take Cady Way trail from there to Fashion Square Mall. Orange county plans to extend this trail to cady way trail soon. The right of way already exists.
I didn't know that it was a rail trail! But the scenery is wonderful and for cycling it's a great trail for beginners. Would love for it to be longer!
"As of 11/2005, trail extends about 7.5 miles from Forsythe Rd to Alafaya Tr. Most convenient access is on north side of SR50, between Forsythe and Dean Rd. Parking area is marked by sign.
Trail has all the amenities. Much of it is fairly well screened from Orlando's suburban sprawl."
This trail is spectacular. It would serve a larger community if it was attached to UCF.
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