Continuing further north

After leaving Lake Manatee SP, we looked to see if there were any Rails-to-Trails biking trails on our way to our next stop, Manatee Springs SP.  As it turned out, we were driving right past one called Withlacooche Bay Trail.  The round trip was 12.5 miles so we stopped at the trail head parking lot, unloaded our bikes, and took off on this beautiful, ten foot wide paved trail that ran right beside the Cross Florida Barge Canal.  This seldom used trail was delightful to ride because we saw less than six people in the whole distance.

 

Along the way, there were very nice covered picnic pavilion overlooking the canal.

The trail ended at Withlacooche Bay in the Gulf of Mexico.

   

We continued on to Manatee Springs SP the morning of Tuesday, March 6, and took our bikes to another Rails-to-Trails bike trail, the Nature Coast State Trail.  The section we rode today was just a little over 12 miles, but the most scenic part of it was crossing the Suwanee River over an old trestle.  Yes, we were way down upon the Suwanee River.  (hmm, we could make a song out of that).

We went back to the campground and took a short walk to see the actual spring fed pond of Manatee springs.  The light part in the water you see in the pictures below is incredibly clear and about 25 feet deep.

The spring water then flows out into the Suwanee River which empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

We saw a few snakes, harmless brown water snakes, as well as a couple of manatees that came upstream in the Suwanee River.  We then returned to our campsite to fix dinner and as I was getting the grill ready, the local deer came up very close to check out what I was doing.

The Rails-to-Trails biking trails that we have discovered in Florida are in such good shape.  They are clean, paved, somewhat isolated, and we even saw a guy on a four wheeler pulling a high powered blower to keep the trail free of leaves, branches, etc.