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Rode on Saturday Veterans Day. The parade in Palatka was great. We parked at Riverfront Park. Rode across street to the Quality Inn parking lot and right there you can catch the trail over the river. Rest of trail easy to follow. It’s 3.5 miles to the start of the tree canopy portion. Trees end at 6.7. Then a straight hot ride along Hwy 207 to Hastings for a total of 11 miles. It was 84 today so feeling the heat and humidity. I was expecting a longer section of tree canopy. I’m glad we did it but most likely would not be in my list of repeats.
Rode the trail end to end. It is a nice trail, nothing really sticks out except spud farms and view going over St. John’s River. Mostly open to the sun when riding along SR 207, shaded when trail deviates away. Surface was pretty good, better heading west than east.
I was able to add a few more miles in Palatka than shown on map, finished with 48 miles. Will ride again.
This trail is great for enjoying nature, but has very little shade, so plan accordingly.
I wrote a critical review of this trail two months ago due to dangers posed mostly by motorized bikes/trikes mixing in with non-motorized traffic on a very hilly and often sight-restricted segment of this trail. Signage is very clear in prohibiting motorized vehicles, yet they're out there in droves. Today was a prime example of why this mixing should not be allowed, or at least needs to be strictly controlled.
We regularly walk on this trail - I should say we USED to regularly walk this trail, because we won't be going back. Since it's only a half mile from our home, we hoped we could make it work for us. But the lack of any posted rules for shared-trail usage, and the lack of any posted etiquette pointers simply make it unenjoyable for us. In short, it's a free-for-all out there. Two instances today in fairly rapid succession convinced us to not ever go back.
In both cases, motorized units were approaching us unannounced from the rear, and they proceeded to "Thread the Needle" between us and oncoming traffic. In the first case, there was one e-bike and one person-powered bike in line. Not too bad. In the second case, there were three e-trikes in a line squeezing between us and a fast approaching e-bike. The trailer in this line had to veer sharply right immediately as he got right next to us to avoid a collision, causing us to have to check up quickly. So - one speeding e-bike coming towards us; three e-trikes squeezing between us in the middle; and us in line hugging the right side. Not a very comfortable feeling. And these are fairly frequent occurrences on this trail. It was at this point we simply vowed that enough was enough and to never come back.
And at the risk of appearing to want to pile on, the management of Volusia County parks needs to also be taken to task for the lack of maintenance of all the county trails, many of which, while relatively new, are starting to show the effects of weather and aging. On this particular trail, the asphalt is severely cracking and separating in numerous areas. Much of the the wood fencing is rotting, tipping and starting to fall over. Recent rains have vegetation growing across the trail. Trash is starting to appear along side the pavement - the same stuff there day after day. We'll usually pick it up where we can easily get to it, but refuse to go tramping off into the woods to retrieve it. It's a shame because the routes of many of our trails pass through some very scenic, serene and secluded wooded areas.
I have ridden this trail several times between the trail end at the St. Augustine end and the Amtrak station in Palatka.
The trail is nearly "calibrate you level" flat the whole way except for the bridge over the St. Johns River. It's easy to pedal.
A couple of long chunks of trail are along route 207, but the trail has it's own right of way, separated from the road by 30 feet or so. It can be a bit noisy and the traffic is moderate. There's not much shade, but there are nice views of farm fields.
The vast majority of the rest of the trail is shaded and runs through some wild areas, some wooded back yards and across a few streams. Very pleasing. The trail also goes through Hastings that has some interesting buildings. Just east of Hastings, is a farm complex that has a couple long horn cattle in a field as well as an old train station, caboose and locomotive that were apparently a museum at one time.
The trail winds along some streets of East Palatka, then over the bridge to Palatka proper. The trail will take you to the northwest side of town, but I usually turn around at the Amtrak station.
There is good parking, restrooms and bottle filling stations at the Vermont Heights, Armstrong and Cora C. Harrison (Hastings) trailheads. There is also some fast food and a gas station convenience store in East Palatka as well as a small parking lot.
The Amtrak station also has rest rooms as well as a small railroad museum inside.
There are a few road crossings with route 207 - which is a four lane highway with a median. They are all equipped with traffic signals to get you safely across.
The trail surface is asphalt-paved all the way and generally pretty good. There are some sections where it's getting bumpy from roots pushing up and the county should really try harder to keep the surface clean of leaves and pine needles, but there is nothing unsafe for a road bike - a hybrid/dual sport might make for a more comfortable ride, though.
What this trail REALLY needs is completion into St. Augustine. It would be a great tourist attraction and could help boost the economic activity of towns along the route.
This trail used to be the mainline of the Florida East Coast Railroad connecting Jacksonville to Miami (and briefly, Key West) along the east coast of Florida. Palatka was once a rail hub. But, the FEC built the Bunnell cut-off - a straight route from St. Augustine to Bunnell - to shorten the route and the Palatka "branch" declined and was abandoned before becoming a rail trail.
We regularly walk from the West Blue Springs parking area towards Lake Beresford because it's close to our home and mostly shaded in the summer. The problem has become however, that ebikes/etrikes also apparently like the shade and swarms of them are regularly encountered. Since this segment has a lot of twists and blind turns, maintaining a safe speed and separation from other users is important. Unfortunately, too many of these motorized units are operated by older folks who are simply out for the ride, in their own little no-need-to-pedal-too-much world, and oblivious to other users. They also seem unable to grasp the concept of single file to the right and not passing when opposing traffic is present. Volusia County has failed miserably in posting some simple rules and etiquette for use of not only this beautiful trail segment, but all other trails in the county.
We reviewed this awesome trail three years ago and agreed with most others that it is indeed a wonderful resource for getting out and exercising in Volusia County. The only criticism we had is that it didn't have - and still doesn't have - any posted trail rules and etiquette reminders. Thus, an otherwise 5 star trail is rated a 4 by us. As a result of this neglect, there are a growing number of users - mainly inconsiderate and speeding bicyclers, now joined by the rapidly growing population of e-bikers/trikers - that make the experience far less enjoyable than it should be.
While we both bicycle and walk all segments of this great trail, we mostly walk. In doing so, we are routinely met/overtaken by bikers/trikers who seem to think that it is our responsibility to make room for them, rather than the other way around. The latest irritant (and danger) are the swarms of of e-trikers (mostly older folks) who want to ride 2 and even 3 abreast, oblivious to anyone else out there. And the alarming speeds some of these folks often attain simply have no place on a trail that is supposed to be free of motorized vehicles. We have repeatedly reported this activity to the responsible county manager and have asked that some very basic and random usage guidelines be posted. We've been told that they would look into the matter, but so far nothing.
We stayed at a cabin in Lake Louisa State Park and drove to the winter Gardens trail head on plant Street. Although it was 30 minutes with traffic, we like the vibe of staying in the cabins when we’re biking. Plant Street is perfect because you can get your coffee at Foxtails before you leave, and get your beer at the Crooked can when you get back. We rode to the lake Minneola Trail in Claremont and back. Perfect day.
We had a great day on this trail. In good shape with considerable shade.
We parked near Winter Garden so we could have a beer and lunch.
We did an easy 30 miles out and back.
Drove from Ocala to Palatka so we could start there and cross the bridge over the river. Unfortunately the bridge was closed off on Palatka side. We drove over the bridge drove over the bridge and parked at the Post Office which is right on the trail. Trail was in good shape except for edges in the woods where tree roots are starting. Rode 29 miles out and back. Enjoyed it! It was worth the drive. Closer to St. Augustine it was in sun along road that's why we turned around. Good beer at the brewery in Palatka for the end of the ride! A good day.
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