WOW, hills in Florida
By
sramp6
in
May, 2011
Rode this trail on April 26, 2011. On a visit from CT, I found this trail challenging for a mid - Florida trail. Not flat like the van Fleet. There is a series of hills at the last 15 miles before the northern trailhead. Not long & steep hills like you'd find in CT, but downshifting was required. Water was limited, but available periodically. The bathroom facilities at Cortez were terrific, especially for a riding trail. The pedestrian/bike bridge over Route 50 near Cortez was a nice touch. Some of the other road crossings are pretty risky affairs. Riding at mid day, I only saw a couple of other riders. As evening approached, more riders, walkers, and rollerbladers appeared. The northern trailhead was very barren; 1 picnic table and a handful of signs. Lot's of parking there. I wasn't pleased with the parking fee imposed by the Hillsborough County for their 2 parking areas @ W Lutz Lake Fern Rd & the other one @ Route 54. It's $2 per car; their bathroom facilities consist of Port-a-Potties and they warn of break-ins of cars parked there. Seems odd since none of the other trailheads imposed parking fees and some had better bathrooms (like Cortez). I would suggest parking at one of the other trailheads.
Trail has nice variety; limited amenities.
By
TimBee
in
March, 2011
I rode the northern half of this trail in mid February on a mostly sunny, warm day. It was way better than I expected considering it parallels the Sun Coast Parkway. I've ridden trails before that are close to freeways and the road noise makes it unpleasant but this trail had buffers between it & the road and in many cases wasn't that close or maybe there wasn't enough traffic for me to notice (went mid day).
The northern third or so has quite a few hills and some curves and lots of pretty pine trees and sparse traffic. The northern Trail Head was nothing more than a parking lot--no shade, shelter, bathroom facilities, water, etc. So bring your own water, food and find your own place to relieve yourself.
The Trail Head off of Cortez (Brooksville/Spring Hill) was very pleasant with a nice building, indoor bathrooms, cold water, shelter, picnic tables, etc. Also, there's a huge overpass crossing Cortez which was kinda fun in & of itself. My car was just fine when I returned. The southern portion had more traffic on the parkway and was closer to it but still wasn't that bad. There was also an athletic field/park with facilities, shade, etc. The condition of the trail was very good all the way. I will definitely finish the southern half on my next FL visit.
UTB Trail!!!
By
bbkradwell
in
December, 2007
What is the hold up on the connections between the Suncoast and the UTB Trail? I mean, heck, we've only been waiting for this silly thing for the last 9 years, since it was proposed! OK, I realize that the "wheels of Bureacracy turn slowly," but this is ridiculous! Come ON, people... 9 years? My grandmother could have done it by herself, by now! And she's been confined to a wheelchair for 15 years!!!
I cannot wait to ride my bike from Hillsborough Rd, in Tampa, aaaallll the way to Citrus County and beyond!!