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Yet Another Florida Query

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Yet Another Florida Query

Old 01-08-19, 06:00 AM
  #1  
Greenhil
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Yet Another Florida Query

I’m planning a late Feb to mid-March road trip to do some camping and gravel and trail riding in FL. I’ve been looking at places where the tent camping is decent (not sandwiched between big RVs) and there’s a decent network of gravel roads or rail trails nearby. I’m wondering if it’s worth going all the way south to Everglades and Big Cypress for this and whether there are better/other choices. Suggestions? Also what tires work best down there? I have WTB Horizon Road Plus 650x47s which are a pretty smooth tire and work great on pavement and hard packed backroads and trails up here. Thanks!
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Old 01-12-19, 04:35 PM
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From my experiences you won't find much gravel in fl. Mostly sand when you get off road. The bigger tires will float on top of a lot of that. Around Ocal is a mountain bike paradise called Santos. It is very popular and is supposed to be the bomb to ride. Near by are some rails to trails. The Withlacoochee trail is a nice paved trail. There is also the Marjorie Harris Greenway near Ocala. A lot of the state parks have bike trails, so you should be able to find something to ride on.
This website might help you make some of your decision.
https://www.bikeflorida.net/
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Old 01-13-19, 09:49 AM
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As Baldy said, Ocala is good for trails. Additionally you may head to Gainesville just north of Ocala. We have the San Felasco trail, which has about 30 miles of bike trails. There are also numerous rail trails in the area. As mentioned, gravel doesn’t really exist in FL, it is a lot of sand and sandy soil, with a fair amount of roots to watch out for. Central Florida at least has some “hills”, with some of that formed by old sinkholes. Feb-Mar is a good time, weather is usually still pleasant and humidity isn’t kicking in yet. As a note - despite the amount of rain we get, I use a dry lube on the chain and just make sure it is cleaned and lubed. You will pick up a ton of sand with the wet lube.
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Old 01-14-19, 02:17 PM
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There are 100's of miles of levy roads (mostly gravel/crushed coral) in South Florida winding throughout the everglades - all closed to motorized vehicle traffic.
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Old 01-17-19, 06:12 AM
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Thanks for the responses. Looks like there are decent campgrounds in the Ocala Natl Forest. I just read something about a January 100K ride that uses levee roads in the Everglades, so I’ll check those out, too. We’ve just had four nights of -10 this week, so I’m looking forward to it!
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