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Trans-Florida Central Railroad Trail: So read the lettering on a new pedestrian overpass spanning I-95. I'd never heard of it, and couldn't find it on the internet, so I decided to drive down and check it out.
I started at the Fellsmere Trailhead Preserve, just west of I-95 on highway 512. A young mother was watching her child on the playground as I unloaded my folding bike. Inside the shelter I found restrooms and a wall map of the Regional Greenway, which includes the rail trail (see pictures).
Pedaling around the trailhead, I saw no way to the trail until I came to a hard packed sand roadway leading north from the entry road. A road grader operator confirmed that this was the way to the overpass.
At the trail, packed sand gave way to a hard gravel surface with pinewoods on either side. I turned left, to find the end of the trail at a locked gate. Here the old railbed led straight west, through the woods of the St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park towards Fellsmere.
Turning around, I pedaled a half mile eastward to the paved section, twelve feet wide, beginning at the approach to the overpass. Out to the left were several structures of the FIT Challenge Course: horizontal rope nets, wooden walls to scale- challenges I might have tried half a century ago.
Descending the overpass, the trail turned a few degrees south of east and ran board-straight between stands of tall pine to the vanishing point. Not much shade; a summer afternoon sun would shine straight down the trail, and this morning there were only a few patches of broken shade.
It was busy on this Saturday morning- two couples walking abreast, pushing a tandem stroller; two young girls walking a huge, furry poodle-ish dog; other couples and individuals pedaling or strolling. The mile and a half of pavement led to North County Regional Park and its large, well attended swimming pool. I could hear shouts and splashes as I passed. A trailhead shelter here was closed.
From the pavement's end, a nicely wooded mile of gravel trail meandered through thick woods, over several boardwalks across the wetter places and through an oak hammock with some magnificent trees. I passed a young lady jogger, then a fast moving male cyclist, who confirmed that the trail ran on into Sebastian.
It popped out of the woods at a bridge over an arm of the St. Sebastian River, where it joined a wide sidewalk on highway 512, continuing the Regional Greenway northeast into town. I didn't have time to ride it, but looked it over by car- a true greenway. More than half its length was set back from the roadway and screened by tall, thick rows of cedar. Some of these sections adjoined neighborhood streets. A number of walkers and cyclists were using it.
Four miles of greenway led from the end of the rail trail to the downtown Sebastian waterfront, at US 1, which boasted a mile of wide bike lanes. A block east, Indian River Drive followed the shore of the Indian River Lagoon, with a half dozen seafood restaurants overlooking the water.
Starting at US 1, a rider could go about six and a half miles to the east end of the existing rail trail. Plans call for the rail trail to extend about three miles further west, into downtown Fellsmere.
Fellsmere has two very authentic Mexican restaurants, one including a bakery, plus a local pizza parlor. Southern comfort food is on offer at the century-old Fellsmere Estates Building, in a small historic district along Broadway St. The town has the oldest operating library in the county, and was the first town in the south where a woman voted in a municipal election.
Despite its imposing name, the Trans-Florida Central Railroad was never more than a feeder for the main rail line along the east coast. It reached about fifteen miles inland, to the St. Johns marshes and the former town of Broadmoor, planned for development but abandoned after a hurricane flooded the area in 1916.
The rails brought lumber and building materials inland to Fellsmere, carrying out whatever products were harvested from the marshy land over the decades- sugar, citrus, potatoes, muck for fertilizer, pulpwood. Early in the last century, passenger service ran four times a day between Fellsmere and Sebastian.
This short rail line buoyed the region's economy for half a century. Its legacy is a pleasant greenway, well used by locals and worth a visit for anyone seeking a leisurely ride.
We packed lunch and headed-out to the Osteen Community Center on Hwy 415. Parking and restrooms are excellent. We went west over the pedestrian/bicycle bridge and rode approx 6 miles to Green Springs. Easy ride with about half of the trail covered by a canopy of tree limbs. We visited the Springs and then had lunch at a park bench by the boat ramp over-looking Lake Monroe. We then rode the 6-miles back. A very easy-going enjoyable 12-mile ride. I will return to do the complete ride on the east section of Osteen and then turning back west and ride past Green Springs on the one-way 12-mile ride at a higher rate of speed. Must be a great kept secret as there were only a few people out on a Saturday!
Thank you for the trail.
We came to Florida from the north to get in some riding at the start of spring. This route is perfect. It is 22 miles from end to end but you could continue. Wide shoulder, courteous drivers and lots of beaches to stop at.
Tips: 1) do not take the Jungle Trail - it is sand, has no view and is frustrating; 2) you can eat in San Sebastian Inlet State Park and though it is $2 to get in, it is worth it; 3) if you come from the South cut in at the 7 Eleven at Sea Gull Dr. and go into the beach part of Vero Beach as it is great back there, lots of shops, foods and a market on Saturdays; 4) Spend some time in Round Island Beach park as you can see manatees and go to the ocean for a swim on the other side.
This ride really made our trip and was a nice compliment to General Van Fleet and others that are totally segregated. Highly recommended.
Perhaps I should have read the reviews more closely. We were on cross bikes with 28 mm tires and we started at the north end. All sand until we got off and rejoined the A1A trail. Very hard to ride even though we ride cottage roads up north with the same style of bike. Too much soft sand.
The biggest disappointment is that there is nothing to see. No cut outs so you can see the reserve, no easy access benches or tables or wooden walkways. No animals and then the brutal part where you have million dollar houses on either side with a thin row of jungle in between.
Just a caution that much of this trail goes, or will go, thru areas popular with hunters, in season.
Rode from Titusville to Edgewater, 33 miles of bicycle trail. The only impediment is a bridge under construction along Maytown Rd and it looks close to completion.
Now at 18 miles in length this path is beautiful and gets better as you travel north. The last 9 miles, north of Aurantia Rd does not have any intersections.
We started in the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge and rode the unlabeled Old Winter Beach Road to A1A. We would label the trail surface a 3 requiring some caution, but the scenic value of the trail and nice people is a 5. Therefore, we rated the trail a 4.
Initially we approached this trail with caution due to the last 2 reviews. However, they must have been written before the trail got cleaned up from the September hurricane. The trail looked like it had been recently graded and there were no downed trees.
The sand surface was mostly firm. On the entire trail there were maybe only 3 or 4 soft spots where the surface had been disturbed. Soft spots were easily avoided even on our tandem bike. The surface was a lot better than loose gravel or freshly laid ground-up asphalt that hasn’t weathered over summer. Wider tires, such as those on a mountain bike, would definitely work better than thin road bike tires.
Quite a few people were enjoying the holiday by walking, dog-walking, biking, golf carting, and driving down the trail. Saw a family with small kids. Everyone was courteous. The drivers drove slowly and carefully.
We enjoyed the windy road with the vegetation on both sides. We saw many wild birds, including white pelicans, egret, blue heron, etc. No snakes. Happy about that. Initially there was not much shade but further in it got shadier. You might want to wear sunglasses for the sun and the occasional cloud of insects you might pass through. Not a big deal as they didn’t bite. I found out about them from my husband on the front of the tandem.
Yesterday, December 4th, 2017, I investigated the progress on this extensive forked trail, which may be totally finished as early as next year. East from Enterprise, it now ends at Maytown and Guise Roads east of Osteen. The gap between there and Gobbler's Lodge Road/Maytown Road is funded for construction in 2018. From Gobbler's Lodge east to Lake Harney Road along Maytown, construction is just starting. From Lake Harney Road clear up to the trailhead and parking in Edgewater (near Cow Lick and Route 442), construction is advancing, with many miles already asphalt. The other fork, going southeast into Titusville, I will check on soon.
I don’t like not safe many car coming too narrow when car coming and too many beach sand hard to ride a bike on tires make lot of control. That’s not bike trails! Idiot design!!
I parked at the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (which was closed), and really enjoyed the beginning of the trail. It was a hard-packed dirt road with some muddy spots. After the first mile, the condition of the road really degraded, with many downed branches. Still fun, with a wide-tired bike. But the trail dead-ended at 2.6 miles, with several downed trees making the trail impassable. A big disappointment, as I had been looking forward to an 8-mile ride!
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