The Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway is a 110-mile linear park which spans from the Gulf of Mexico to St John’s River. It’s 70,000 acres features 300 miles of trails for paddling, biking, hiking, horseback riding and multi-use activities.
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History of the Cross Florida Barge Canal
The public lands were originally purchased for the abandoned Cross Florida Barge Canal. The idea for the Cross Florida Barge Canal was floated as early as 1567 by the founder of St. Augustine.
Several hundred years later in 1826, Congress appropriated funds for a survey. Several more surveys followed for the next 100 years. With the Great Depression and the subsequent New Deal program to employ civilians to build public infrastructure, the canal was started.
After three years, the project ran out of funding and succumbed to environmental concern. After German submarines threatened Florida’s coast, National security concern renewed interest in the project and construction resumed in 1964.
Again, the canal faced environmental concerns about Florida’s aquifer, and Marjorie Harris Carr successfully appealed to President Nixon to kill the project in 1971 with the canal being only 1/3 complete.
The Cross Florida Greenway
The Cross Florida Greenway is the result of the largest unfinished public works project in history! In addition to all the trails, the land once purchased for the canal includes parking and restroom facilities at each of its 17 trailheads. Camping, picnic areas and other amenities are also available in site dependent areas.
Land Bridge Trailhead
While visiting Ocala, I took my dog Annie to the Land Bridge Trailhead of the Cross Florida Greenway. This trailhead includes biking, horseback riding, and hiking trails. It also has good parking, restroom facilities, a shaded picnic area, and a horse facility called Cactus Jack’s Trail Rides.
It is called the Land Bridge Trailhead because of the nearby land bridge that extends over I-75. This land bridge is the first of its kind in the United States and provides a corridor for wildlife to cross over the interstate. Bobcats, turkeys, coyotes and black bears have all used the 52 foot wide bridge that has native plants lining its local fieldstone walls.
I was pleasantly surprised when I could hike a 3.3 mile easy loop without contending with bikes or horses. They each had their own trails beneath the hammock. The trails were well marked for foot traffic vs bike traffic vs horse traffic. Though I always like to have AllTrails on hand.
I connected the orange and blue trails together and took a slight detour along the multi-use paved trail to walk on the land bridge that I drove under on a regular basis. I thought there would be a bit more vegetation than there was, but regardless, it serves a good purpose for all.
National Scenic Trails
I was excited to find a portion of this path was also part of the Florida National Scenic Trail, one of 11 National Scenic Trails in the USA. Now I can say I’ve hiked portions of five of these National Scenic Trails: the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, the Appalachian Trail, the Natchez Trace, and the Florida Trail.
If I went back researched all of my hikes during my roadtrip across the USA which coved all 48 contiguous states, I’ve probably done portions of all 11 National Trails, but that was before I even knew some of these existed!
I tried hiking some of the Florida Trail while I spent three days in Big Cypress National Preserve, but I was going to have to wade through the swamp…no thank you!
Highlights of the Cross Florida Greenway Trail
In fact, that is one thing I really liked about the Land Bridge Portion of the Cross Florida Greenway. It was neither swampy nor too sandy. The compact path, laden in pine needles, varied between single track and wider options.
It was also highly shaded which is nice for the Florida heat, though when I hiked, I used the canopy as protection from the impending rainstorm. I suppose if you like views, this trail through the forest would not be a favorite. But if you want a walk in the woods, the Cross Florida Greenway Land Bridge Trail near Ocala is a good choice. ETB
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