Find the top rated birding trails in Gainesville, 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.
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This 46 mile trail has a little of everything. Parts have nice shade, some areas are rural and some areas go through small towns. There are multiple access points. Highlights for us were Floral City near the midway point, Ft. Cooper State Park access, and Inverness where the trail skirts the water. There aren't many difficult road crossings and not many climbs to get over high intersection bridges. As of our last ride in 2025, the trail was in good shape. Not terribly crowded. An outstanding ride.
My wife and I took a three week bike trip in late winter 2025 and did 10 trails in 5 different states and the Marjorie Harris was by far the best trail of the trip. It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect with sunshine and 73 degrees. But the trail was in great shape with plenty of small ups and downs and turns through beautiful wooded areas. It was mid week so not too busy with other riders, but the trail is nice and wide so oncoming and passing is not a problem. It did look like a popular spot for club riders though. Lots of incumbents. People were friendly. The only negative….it’s too short. We would have done 20 miles if the MH ran that far. So ride, don’t walk and put this trail on your bucket list.
There really wasn't any good parking at the north end of this trail so I went down to the south end where is a nice park and hiking trails. The bike trail starts out good, looks newer, wide and smooth. However in the 5 miles I road north, there not only is construction going on at most of the intersections, the intersections are 4-6 lanes and not always do the buttons to get the walk signal worked. Not real safe. I don't recomment it, at least starting from the south trailhead. Mayby at the north going south is better....
Beautiful April day in Florida. Drove to this trail and the park the description says to park at was closed today (?) so I parked across the Kingsley on a side street, about 3 blocks from the trail.
The trail is a nice with rolling rise and falls, almost exactly 4.5 miles to the end where the road makes a right. There are alot of side strets that T into the road next to the trail but they it was not busy at all. Not a terribly long ride but a nice one!
We parked at Lake Townsen Park, had some lunch at Bree’s Provisions (They close at 2:00) and rode north, out and back for about an hour. The trail is well maintained and goes through beautiful farm country.
This is a terrific ride on paved trail through shaded natural landscapes. Pine and live oak uplands and cypress swamps. The trail bed is in very good condition except for some minor root bumps here and there. Enjoyed the challenge of some long but gentle hills near the Gainesville end. We rode hybrid bikes so medium narrow tires and did nearly the entire trail and back again in two and a half hours of actual riding.
We rode the trail from the Florahome trailhead to the Keystone Heights trailhead. This section of the trail is paved, smooth, and well maintained. The keystone Heights trailhead is a little off as it’s basically in between a Wendy’s and a CVS store in the dude of a major highway. Before Keystone Heights, the trail goes primarily through trees and wetlands. There is spotty shade in some spots but otherwise full sun. It’s not a trail for summer time.
I am an inline speed skater and a road bike cyclist. I have been skating and biking in over 10 states. This is so far the best trail I have ever been — over 90% distance is shaded, 10 feet wide, most times is very clean, and not hilly at all.
I love riding rail trails because you don’t need to worry about traffic ! Cross over a few roads but nothing major until you get into Gainesville. But there are crossing signals and traffic was good about stopping. Recommend you eat at The Wrap Shack if you ride into Hawthorne.
I set about riding some of the paved sections but I was most intrigued to try the unpaved section from Hampton to New River. I rode the paved section from Lake Geneva to Hampton and back. The pavement is smooth and the section between Keystone and Hampton covers some beautiful country scenery. Highway signage for trailheads and signage at the trailheads themselves could use improvement!!!
As for the unpaved section, a comfortable seat with full suspension comes in handy as parts are bumpy from the ballast rock and some roots.
This rail trail is also part of the Florida National Scenic hiking trail. I saw one pair of hikers on this section. There are two detours required due to removed rail bridges. The detour near Lake Sampson is really minor. The detour over the New River is a much larger detour which I avoided through my routing.
I first rode west from Hampton to Sampson and back then moved my bike via car to New River and road east toward Sampson though I didnt quite reach it before returning to New River. Each out and back section clocks in around 11 miles.
The trail was quite well maintained. Often it was a clear path through a tree canopy as far as the eye I could see. Sometimes it bore through a natural habitat and other times through pine tree farms. This unpaved section is also the most remote. It did require crossing a major US Highway (301) and two different rail lines. If or when it gets paved, it will be the best section on the entire trail. For now, it is for intermediate+ riders.
I had a great 21 mile ride from the Vermont Trailhead towards Palatka and back. The trail was in good shape and I was surprised at how wooded it was.
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