Cross Florida Greenway Trail

Today we biked 15 miles on the Cross Florida Greenway Trail which runs 110 miles across the state. Crossing central Florida from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Johns River is this premier greenway, occupying much of the land formerly known as the Cross Florida Barge Canal. It was officially renamed the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway in honor of the individual who led the fight to stop the Cross Florida Barge Canal project. The corridor traverses a wide variety of natural habitats and offers a variety of trails and recreation areas where visitors can experience the wonders of Florida in their own recreational style, be it on foot, mountain bike, or horse.

This section has a limerock road for service vehicles as well as hikers, bikers, and equestrians, but the Ocala Mountain Bike Association also built and maintains parallel trails, of both beginner and intermediate difficulty. The 1300 mile long Florida National Scenic Trail for hikers and an equestrian trail also run through this segment of the greenway.  We prefer the single track options seen in the photos below this one.

These sectional are far more lovely and challenging than the gravel service road.

This Cross Florida Greenway Trail is named for conservationist Marjorie Harris Carr, Florida's first female wildlife technician, whose efforts led to creation of Paynes Prairie Preserve and whose lengthy battle stopped the construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, a mammoth multi-billion dollar project to traverse central Florida that threatened the area's ecosystem.

This "land bridge" over I-75 allows safe passage for humans and critters...

Here are a couple close-up views of the land bridge...

Other underpasses also provide safe passage for wildlife and humans beneath heavily-traveled roadways.

I reported on this trail earlier in this post.