One Last Florida Bike Ride . . . on This Trip

 

With sun shining, a light breeze, and the temperature in the low 60’s, we set out for the last bike ride of our winter Florida trip by going to nearby Hillsborough River State Park.  Hillsborough River is one of Florida’s oldest  state parks, having been built by the CCC and opening in 1938. The park has had recent renovations and is a lovely natural setting with the Hillsborough River flowing through woods filled with palmettos and moss-draped oak trees.

We parked the truck just inside the park to unload our bikes and rode along the park road to explore the area.  We checked out the campground (which was full) and then rode on to the Wetlands Restoration Trail where we met up with a couple from Ohio on their bikes and continued on the Wetlands Trail together.  It was a pretty rough trail, but we soon reached  a hard surface unpaved road and continued to the river.  We were surprised to see no wildlife – not even birds. 

Interestingly, the Ohio couple told us one of their favorite bike trails is the Virginia Creeper Trail which we also love and biked for the second time with Jim and Hope a couple of summers ago.  They recommended the Hiawatha Trail in Idaho as a great trail similar to the Virginia Creeper.  Now when can we go there?