PARKS & OUTDOORS
Nature Coast State Trail
Gilchrist County · North Florida & First Coast
The rail trail's three legs meet at Wilcox Junction in Gilchrist County, with Trenton's old depot on the route.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
The Nature Coast State Trail runs about 31.5 miles across Gilchrist, Dixie and Levy counties on the beds of two abandoned Atlantic Coast Line railroads, the Thomasville to Dunnellon line and the Jacksonville to Wilcox line. Those tracks were built so timber companies could haul cypress out of the Suwannee floodplain, and in the early 1900s the trains took over the freight and passenger trade from the river steamships. The three legs meet at Wilcox Junction in Gilchrist County, which is what makes this trail unusual: riders pick a direction and a distance rather than following one line out and back. Chiefland to Trenton is 18.3 miles one way, Chiefland to Cross City 23.6, and Trenton to Cross City 20.7. The surface is paved, with crosswalks where it meets the highways, and it takes walkers, cyclists, horse riders and skaters all year. The old railroad depot at Trenton still stands beside the trail, as do those at Cross City and Chiefland. Otter Springs is about 2.5 miles off Wilcox Junction, Fanning Springs State Park is on the route, and Manatee Springs is about six miles west
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