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Enjoyed the ride very much. The trail overall is in great shape and very smooth. Our only issue was after starting in Keystone Heights heading toward Palatka, the trail was completely underwater and impassable after only 7 miles so we had to turn around. I would put in on the Palatka end next time.
We finally got to ride the western part of the Palatka to St. Augustine Trail today that runs from Hastings to Palatka. I reviewed the eastern part, St. Augustine to Hastings a few weeks ago.
There is plenty of parking in Hastings on Main St. but we parked in the Post Office lot a block off Main for safety reasons. The trail goes right through town and you pick it up on Main St. The first part is through local neighborhoods where unfortunately some locals find it fun to break beer bottles on the trail so use caution. Once out of town you border farm fields with an open trail which would be very hot in warmer months. A few miles down the trail though you get into some shade but not much. It appears the trail is not much used as we saw only 4-5 other cyclists but it was a week day. As you get closer to Palatka it narrows and then becomes essentially a sidewalk and once in town crosses many parking lots so safety could be an issue. The trail near Palatka also becomes very trashy and industrial.
All in all though this is a great ride. If you wanted to go from St. Augustine (actually Vermont Heights about 3 miles out of St. A.) to Palatka it would be a very good ride mileage wise. There is beautiful farmland, creeks with very nice bridges across, and lots of wildlife, mainly large birds. In Hastings there is a fantastic restaurant named Norma D's Kitchen, "The Local Spot" that has great food. Right on Main Street about 100 yards from the trail, it is open only for breakfast and lunch and is well worth either starting there after a big breakfast or ending there for lunch. We had breakfast and were very happy with the food and service, and price! Our next ride we plan to start there and back for lunch.
I started at Lake Beresford Park which has a loop trail good for maybe 2+ miles. Head south towards Blue Springs which is an interesting place especially viewing the river & watching the manatees swim around where you could otherwise swim in summer. Surprisingly lots of people at the park for a weekday morning. Further down the trail there was some construction going on to extend the trail; after that riding on a wide sidewalk for mile or 2. I'm not sure how you'd get to the southern section via bike because of very busy road in DeBary.
So I packed up the bike & drove to Monroe Park and headed north & east. First few miles were very scenic over a boardwalk. The trail is good until just after Gemini Springs where it parallels a very busy road for a few miles but becomes a peaceful, scenic trail by the time you hit Green Springs. Here is meets up with the East Coast rail trail that goes another 7 miles or so to the gap.
It will be nice once this trail is continuous and also connects up with short stretches in DeLand where there's a lot of jumping around on sidewalks, trails, roads, etc. Some signs would be nice to help navigate. All-in-all a nice trail but needs connectivity work.
We started in downtown Titusville at the bike shop where we rented hybrids. The "trail" was hard to find from there because that part of it is riding on streets with marked bike lanes. Once on the trail it was fine; smooth & flat riding first through suburban housing & commercial development; then out into lush vegetation on both sides.
There was one bench to sit down at but otherwise out to Virgie's stop there was no place to sit/rest, get a drink or relieve oneself. Thankfully there was no rain or hot sun to contend with.
I hear there are stops as you go further west towards Osteen. It will be nice once the short gap is closed so you can go from either Edgewater or Titusville to Deltona and connect up to Spring to Spring trail.
Back in Titusville you're again on marked streets, then you can go over the Max Brewer Bridge on pedestrian sidewalk--nice view of the water or maybe a rocket launch. Not much beyond that for now.
I rode from "downtown" Keystone Heights east through Florahome and onward through the new section of trail. I stopped at the 8 mile trail marker and think the trail is finished through to Palatka but had to turn back due to lack of time.
I went from Gobblers Lodge Rd to the Indian River in Titusville(48 miles round trip).
The trail has very few intersections, especially compared to the the Wekiva or Cross-Seminole trails, near me.
You pass through a game refuge, so I wouldn’t recommend this as a dusk ride, and maybe suggest something bright orange? I’m not 100% sure there is a problem with that but I wanted to bring it up just in case.
My favorite sections are when the wooded areas become less swampy, more towards Edgewater and the coast. There is a small missing link - maybe 500 yards after you cross a bridge in downtown Titusville, but there are signs that tell you to go to the next street(Main St I think), and it leads you to green bike lanes.
And the Green paved bike lanes in downtown Titusville are awesome, as another reviewer said, they are as wide as car lanes and even have posts to rest your arm on at traffic lights.
My only real complaint was my legs’ lack of conditioning! Most definitely a nice ride, esp in this late fall/early winter weather.
We road the trail today from St. Augustine, actually Vermont Heights where there is parking and bathrooms, to Hastings. The section between Spuds and Hastings is now complete so you can ride all the way to Palatka. The new section is fantastic with some great bridges and farm fields. Most of the trail has plenty of shade also. There is still some finish work to be done but it is completely surfaced and ready to ride. It was great seeing so many people out today from serious riders to families on cruiser bikes. If you do the ride plan on being in Hastings early morning and hit up Norma's Kitchen for breakfast. We were not able to get there at that time but will plan around that next time.
Ride this trail today on our tandem. I had been told about the unfinished gap between Spuds and Hastings. The gap is now completed and you can ride the trail the entire distance.
It is a nice ride through natural Florida & it’s so beautiful and peaceful, really enjoyable ride.
We had previously ridden the Spring to Spring Trail, which we highly recommend, and hoped that it would be connected to this trail, however, that is not the case,,,,, yet. We opted to take to this trail at the northern most spot which was at Gobblers Lodge, which had great parking and an outhouse. We found the path to be in excellent condition, with occasional rest stops with benches and refuse cans, however, not much shade, so wear your sun block. At the 6.5 mile mark of our ride, we came to the split, where you would either opt for Edgewater to the left, or Titusville to the right. We took the left fork and continued on. Although it was a beautiful Sunday, there were not many riders out, but this part of the trail is not near anything, or any homes or businesses. Just a trail through the natural beauty of Central Florida. We reached Rt I95 at the 10 mile mark, and drove under it, As we neared Edgewater, we came across a pedestrian bridge, which took a little effort to cross, but you can avoid it and cross the road instead with little problems due to low traffic flow. We continued on until we reached the end of the trail in Edgewater and took the sidewalks for an additional mile in order to reach the Indian River, where we had lunch. On our return ride, we stopped at a local deli for some awesome sandwiches, which we saved for later along the trail. We saw some wildlife during our ride, which included an Eagle, Pelicans, a beautiful blue heron in flight, a huge turtle, 1 snake on the path, and an armadillo. We finally reached our van after our 48 mile ride, which was allot longer than I had planned for today, but I hate to stop and turn around before reaching some kind of destination, which usually involves a body of water. LOL. We had a great time, and plan to return in order to head toward Titusville, which appears to be a longer ride. We will most likely pick up the trail at the parking lot just after the split on the trail for this ride. Thank you for all those responsible for these wonderful trails.
Rode from Green Springs Park to Gemini Springs Park on 11/24/18. Both parks were worthwhile stops. The trail itself between the parks mostly ran along a road and was not scenic at all. Drive your car to the parks and bike somewhere else!
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