Find the top rated birding trails in Auburndale, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Kissimmee is doing a great job with this Trail!. I enjoyed the connection ride from Shingle Creek to Kissimmee Loop Trail That BRIDGE OVER John Young Parkway is a MUST, very pretty and a fun ride. Plenty of places for pictures, and selfies. Loved the ride alongside the creek. I will submit pics as soon as I download them. Can’t wait to see more connections added to this project. Tip: get there during the earlier part of the day. The roadway to get there is busy with traffic.
Over the years, I have run over 10,000 miles on this trail so I am pretty familiar with it. I am a marathon runner and do almost all of my training here. Every day brings something different in the way of wildlife to see, depending on time of the year, time of the day, weather and luck. You will very often see alligators, turtles, vultures, peacocks, and numerous other types of birds. I have also seen deer, armadillos, raccoons, snakes, hawks, osprey, bald eagles, fox and even a bobcat once. Occasionally you'll even hear a lion roar, as part of the trail runs parallel to the border of Big Cat Rescue. This trail is a treasure for residents and visitors alike. Unfortunately, in recent years there has been a push to develop more and more of the land surrounding the trail. But with the well-placed water stops and restrooms, it remains a great place for a run, a bike ride, or just a quiet walk through some of the beautiful terrain of Florida.
We rode the trail in early February and were pleasantly surprised. We got a few extra miles by riding from our house to the Shingle Creek Regional Park - Steffee Landing. That would be a good starting point if you are driving. There is a tunnel that passes under Route 192. The trail is asphalt most of the way and is relatively flat and the trail is wide. The loop around Pioneer Village is packed dirt and is well maintained. There are many spurs around on this trail, each one offering something worth seeing.
We rented our bikes at Killarney station and rode past Winter Garden. The trail was in good shape. We wound through neighborhoods lined with Live Oaks and Sycamores. The weather was perfect and the trail is mostly shaded and protected from strong winds. We rode on a Wednesday so it wasn’t too crowded. Highlights were the cute towns of Tildenville, Oakland and Winter Garden. Can’t wait to ride it again!
Pros: easy access, clean, well-maintained and numerous restroom/pit stop/playground areas, Winter Garden (cool town with lots of energy), varied scenery (neighborhoods, town, golf course, highway frontage section, ball fields), great for families, excellent trail markings (if you got into trouble or have a mechanical, it is very easy to tell someone where you are).
Cons: if you’re a serious cyclists there are too many slow sections (through town) and intersections to post a solid effort, two sketchy areas where it wouldn’t be wise to get off your bike, crowded in parts (not dangerously though-folks we passed were respectful and moved to the right), the northeast end of the trail was not well marked and we couldn’t figure out if we were lost or the trail had ended.
We are avid cyclists and have thoroughly enjoyed this trail two times in the past year. The trail is well-maintained and we saw park patrol out and about during both of our trips. If you’re looking for a solid workout this trail is perfect. Minimal traffic, only a few intersections to cross and flat as a pancake. There are restrooms at both ends of the trail and at least one in the mid-point of the trail. Water fountains are sparse so make sure you’re carrying nutrition and plenty of water.
They have opened the section that joins the two pieces shown on the map. Thus one can join the trail at the Tapestry development off Dyer Blvd and go all the way to Kissimmee Lakefront or to Pioneer Village. Great addition. Looking forward to them finishing off the northern section up to Osceola Parkway next as they acquired the easement rights in 2018.
I’ve been quite a few times, always nice. Lots of wildlife even saw a gator off the trail a few 100 feet or so. Not a place to go if not biking or riding something, few picnic tables. It’s somewhere I go without my kids and take them to other parks that are more kid friendly. Water stations along way, air pump and clean bathrooms
This beautiful trail has 4 parking lots @ the 0-10-20-29-mile markers. On 1Jan, Tom and I rode from Mile 0 @ the Polk city parking lot to Mile-15 out and back. We saw several box turtles and a few Gators in the water! On 2Jan we parked @ the Mile-20 Parking lot. Rode out and back to the 29-mile marker, then back to the 15-mile mark out and back! We saw quite a few more box turtles sitting out front of their burrows; if I parked bike and tried to get close for pic, they would quickly scurry back into the burrow! We enjoyed watching one cross as fast as she could from the opposite side of the trail back to her burrow... Saw a gator happily sunning self on side of trail! This trail rides primarily alongside a swamp on both sides... it is awesome if you like a natural setting with only 3-4 total rural road crossing. All mile markers are painted on middle of the pavement! We came from NC to get away from cold Jan weather---this trial was a perfect choice for two days of riding. Benches with bike tools and Trash cans are provided along trail. It was extremely clean! Although trail has some age, the pavement is not "rooty" I highly recommend this gorgeous 29-mile rail-trail ride! I just might come next winter for another two-day out-back ride on this trail!
Nice well paved trail. The new extension is particularly pretty.
We came in on the north spur and headed east. If I knew how bad the road was I would have been better prepared. We started out on hard-packed gravel which wasn’t too bad, but as we traveled east, the road deteriorated to a bumpy semi-paved trail. This was much worse than the gravel. We had to slow to 10-12 mph. After we let some air out of our tires, it was a little better but had to closely watch the road for bumps and holes.
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