Mocassin Lake Nature Trail, Clearwater

Granted, Moccasin Lake may not be the most tempting  name for a beauty spot in an urban area, but rest assured that this nature center provides you and the kids a great getaway if you live in the Clearwater / Tampa area. Check out the creatures inside the center, walk the mile long nature trail through shady forests with ferns along a creek flowing out of the namesake lake, and hang out on the observation deck looking for birds. With a cool weekend expected, it’s time to get the family out in the woods!

For more details and location …

Florida Trail near Santos

When I recently revisited the Land Bridge to Santos section of the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway, what a delight to discover the rugged terrain underfoot from Santos west on the trail! It had been long enough I’d forgotten about how many sinkholes, voids, and surface chunks of limestone karst were along the trail, especially close to the Santos trailhead. While you’d assume this section of trail would be within view of houses and farms, not so. You’re mostly in the woods south of Ocala along the old barge canal route, and the forest have grown up grandly, complete with massive live oaks. If you can spend your Sunday on a hike, this is an excellent choice!

Map & details for the hike …

Central Florida is up for some great weather this weekend, so celebrate “Take a Hike, Florida!” with a hike of your own if you can’t meet up with an organized group. I’ve been rambling along the Cross Florida Greenway and I can attest that, although the segment between the Land Bridge and Santos seems like it might be too suburban with all those road crossings, you barely see a house along it AND it’s geologically and visually spectacular. Here’s a peek … I just posted it on Florida Hikes and shared with subscribers as the Hike-A-Week.  Learn more…

Today concluded a series of hikes I started this fall to revisit the entirety of the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway. It’s the nearest bit of the FT to where I live, so there are many segments I’ve done over and over, especially Pruitt (which I used to maintain), Land Bridge, and Marshall Swamp. I’ve had the pleasure of joining Deb Blick for trail inventory walks this season as she creates new maps of the trail.

Since I helped in the early days of establishing this trail, what a delight to see how the forests have grown! I’ll be transcribing these walks and creating a new section on this site for logistics, since you can day hike or backpack this long urban wilderness. Hike-a-week subscribers, look for detailed descriptons soon!

A prescribed burn will take place in the vicinity of the Land Bridge over I75 along the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway , according to Section Leader Bob Jones. The burn is scheduled for sometime during the weekend of Jan 9-10 so please avoid this area between the Land Bridge and SW 49th Ave Trailheads.