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Alafia River State Park
77 reviews
4.53 of 5
The Alafia River State Park is a collection of scary drops, off-camber hillside ledges, high speed banked turns and intimidating ridge top trails. This single-track is built on the rugged terrain of a previously mined area. Currently there are about 14 miles of trails at Alafia.
The easiest (Green) loop is called Sand Pine and can be ridden as an out-and-back three mile ride or as a two mile loop riding back on the levee. The other Green trail is the River Loop, and is for experienced beginners. Although only three miles long (with bailouts at one-mile intervals), it feels longer because the trail has technical sections where roots or tight turns slow the pace and challenge the rider.
The intermediate (Blue) sections, Bridges and Rock Garden, are really fun with lots of medium-sized hills, some short and steep, with others more gradual for a speedy downhill. There are several very challenging sections along the blue trail (even for experienced riders) and the sudden drops, climbs, twists and turns are just plain fun to ride.
The Rollercoaster and Moonscape trails (Black) form a 4-mile advanced loop which MUST be ridden one-way. Gatorback and Rabbit Ears are very difficult shorter loops off Bridges and Sand Pine, respectively. These sections all include steep roller coaster dips, technical rocky sections and very difficult climbs and drops. Many of these have a steep, straight line descents followed by a short valley before the
trail climbs rapidly up the opposite side. It is a roller coaster sensation that takes your breath away and gives extra "G" forces as your swoop suddenly transitions from a dive into a climb. Not all of these are a straight line down and up. Some drops have relatively sudden turns. Knowing what to expect and controlling your speed accordingly is necessary here.
Several of the trail designers recently got together and laid out trail so extreme they had to come up with a new designation; "Double Black Diamond." These "extreme" sections will definitely be an E-ticket ride.
Day use bikers use the main entrance at 14502 CR 39 S. (it's about a mile south of the old trailhead) and follow signs to the picnic area. A cyclist's trailhead with bathrooms, bike wash and picnic pavilions is available. There is a $3.25 fee. Camping with electricity and water
is also available. Thirty campspots are available for $13 a night plus tax. The bathhouse has hot water for showers. These bath facilities are for registered campers only. Call Reserve America at 1-800-326-3521 to make reservations.
Summary: Great ride....make a day out of it. It is nice to see the State allowing Mt Bike parks. Worth checking out. All the other reviews tell the story. Nothing to difficult but you can get a great ride. Thanks to all the people who built the trails and maintain the.
Recommended Route: Google Map it. It is a state park on CR 39. Basically you take 60 E towards Lakeland out of Brandon. Easy to find.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Don't know the area....maybe Lakeland
Rating...if Santos is the 5 in Florida.
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Summary: Awesome trails; my favorite in Florida. Markham Park near Ft. Lauderdale may be a bit tougher, but I like this place better because there's bigger ups and downs and more flow to it, like the proverbial roller-coaster. Another great thing about Alafia is that it's close to Carter Road trails, which I'd rank around fourth in Florida (after Alafia, Markham and Santos) for break-neck entertainment. There's no other places in Florida worth driving even a couple hours to.
Recommended Route: There's a loop that combines Rollercoaster with Moonscape that makes for a wild half-hour, and then you can throw in the (too-short) Rabbit Ears at the end. Lots of other trails, too; even the intermediate North Creek trail is fun to zoom along on, with a couple more black-diamond trails thrown in.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Carter Road.
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Summary: The trails are in good shape the only down side is that the roots were wet and it was very slippery ,very clean and taken care of , nice drops good technical sections fairly well marked we had a lot of fun and hopefully could go back soon.
Recommended Route: Since it was my first time we started with north creek then just followe dethe trails from there .he second lap we had a guide that tooks us to some other trails that were very fun like rabbit ears new section , loved rollercoaster , and moonscape was fun as well .
Other recommended trails in the same area: markham ...
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Summary: This is IMO the best trail in all of Florida. More on the technical side, but it has quite of few great drops, scales, trails that go all over the place, etc. It has one real sick switch back before a 40ft drop. Be carefule with the alligators. Don't fall in a swamp. I almost did.
Recommended Route: Take I-75
Other recommended trails in the same area: Razorback in Ocala, and Markahm in Weston
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Summary: Alafia is a place that will spoil you. All trailheads are off of a main trail that begins on one side of the parking lot and ends on the other. You are never far from the car. This is especially nice on the hot summer days when you are going through 200 liters of water. There is an outdoor shower, bike wash, indoor restrooms and a really nice covered picnic area. There are trails for every level of rider. The newest trail, North Creek, is intermediate but even the advanced rider will enjoy the workout if they ride it hard. Rollercoaster, Gatorback and Moonscape are all black diamond trails that will challenge all but the elite. Bridges and Rock Garden are fun intermediate trails with Bridges being fast and Rock Garden more technical. Rabbit Ears is black diamond but too short for my taste. Sand Pine and River Loop are beginers trails, very sandy and lots of roots. Sand Pine is not a bad way to start your ride just as a warm up before you start to push.
Recommended Route: I like to ride Sand Pine to warm up and then go to Rollercoaster. From there, back through the parking lot and ride North Creek and the first half of Rock Garden, take the bailout and do the last half of Bridges. Take a short water and gel break at the car then ride Bridges all the way through, then off to Rollercoaster and North Creek again.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Boyette, The Abyss is worth the drive!
Carter Road
Morris Bridge for conditioning. Sustained high cadence peddaling.
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