Nature Coast State Trail

Cross City
Old Town
Fanning Springs
Trenton
Chiefland

UseHiking/Biking/Horses/RollerbladingSeasonYear roundHazardsSevere weather, swampland

The Nature Coast State Trail (NCST) is a 31.7-mile long segment of Florida's Statewide System of Greenways and Trails System built along abandoned railroad tracks,^[2] and designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a National Recreation Trail.^[3]^[4] It has two primary sections following unused rail lines that were originally built by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. It includes historic sites such as a 1902 train trestle bridge over the Suwannee River^[5] near Old Town and train stations in Trenton, Cross City, and Chiefland. At Wilcox Junction abandoned rail tracks cross and connect with several communities. The trail is available to hikers, cyclists, and horse riders.^[6]

History

Florida has many abandoned railway tracks in the Suwannee River Valley. In the early 1900s freight and passenger steamships were replaced by trains that carried crops and timber and also made passenger stops in small towns such as Chiefland, Cross City, and Trenton. These lines consisted of the Thomasville—Dunnellon Line and the Jacksonville—Wilcox Line. The Nature Coast Trail follows this historic route. The 31.7 miles of the Nature Coast State Trail connects several counties and five communities (Cross City, Trenton, Fanning Springs Old Town and Chiefland).^[3]^[7]

In 2010, then-Florida governor Charlie Crist approved the purchase of a 9.33-mile corridor, known as the Trenton–Newberry Rail Trail. This will extend the 31.7-mile NCST managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.^[4]

Nearby land and water resources exist in the vicinity of the Nature Coast State Trail.^[6]

Suwannee River
Fanning Springs
Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve
Manatee Springs State Park
"City of Hawkinsville" Underwater Archaeological Preserve
Andrews Wildlife Management Area
Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve
Waccasassa Bay State Preserve
Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
Jena Wildlife Management Area
Gulf Hammock Wildlife Management Area
Goethe State Forest
Fanning Springs State Recreation Area
Andrews Wildlife Management Area
Suwannee River Wilderness Trail
Withlacoochee State Trail

References

^ Conners, Jane Hartridge. "A Trail Fit for Families". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
^ "Nature Coast State Trail". State of Florida. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "2010 NRT designations - Florida". National Recreation Trails. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
^ ^a ^b Department of Environmental Protection Press Release (8 June 2010). "Trenton-Newberry Rail Trail Project Approved". WCTV.tv. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
^ History of the Nature Coast State Trail (Florida State Parks)
^ ^a ^b "Featured National Recreation Trails". National Recreation Trail. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
^ "Office of Greenways and Trails". Florida Office of Environmental Protection. Retrieved May 18, 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nature Coast State Trail.

Nature Coast state bike trail
Railway line may become part of the trail Lakeland Ledger - May 31, 2004
Newberry railroad bed may become rails-to-trails path - Gainesville Sun - Feb 11, 2005
Nature Coast State Trail at 100 Florida Trails

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee