Palatka-Lake Butler Trail

With a corridor spanning nearly 50 miles between Palatka and Lake Butler, the Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail provides two paved segments for riders and a lengthy unpaved corridor used by the Florida Trail in two areas: one as a connector between Rice Creek Conservation Area and Etoniah Creek State Forest, the other as a protected corridor between the north end of Keystone Heights to Lake Butler.

Resources

Overview

Location: Palatka to Lake Butler via Carraway, Florahome, Putnam Hall, Keystone Heights, and Hampton

Carraway (East) access is currently unavailable due to trail construction. Use Florahome instead.
Florahome trailhead: 29.7333, -81.8864
Keystone Heights access: 29.7992, -82.0527
Lake Butler terminus: 30.022230, -82.340999

Length: Approximately 47 miles. Paved between Carraway and Keystone Heights (roughly 16 miles) and another 4.4 miles between the New River and Lake Butler. Other portions remain unpaved but can be traversed with some jogs out to the highway around missing bridges. In 2018, work is underway to extend the paved portion of the trail from Carraway east into Palatka, which includes replacement of bridges along that portion of the route, most notably a long trestle across Rice Creek that is also used as part of the Florida Trail.

Land Manager: Office of Greenways and Trails

Trail Map

Details

The trail corridor is paralleled by SR 100 from SR 19 in Palatka up to the north end of Keystone Heights, and rejoined by it again near the New River up to Lake Butler.

The Florida Trail joins the corridor at Rice Creek, following the unpaved section through the shade of the surrounding forest, passing a picturesque cypress swamp. Pavement begins at Roberts Road in Carraway, which is adjoined by a large parking area. After 3.1 miles, the Florida Trail jumps off the corridor at Carraway Church Road, the next road crossing, where there is room for a car or two to park.

North of Carraway, the bike path skims the edge of Etoniah Creek State Forest, passing a primitive camping area. You’ll find a developed trailhead at Florahome with a restroom and water, as well as a nearby store. Another small store with cold drinks is at Putnam Hall. The trail diverges from the highway for a while to circle around some large prairies as it approaches Keystone Heights. You’ll find full services along the trail in Keystone Heights except for lodging, and that can be arranged (cabins or camping) at Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, which a spur trail connects to by paralleling SR 21.

Once you get to the north end of Keystone Heights, the pavement ends. Hikers following the Florida Trail meet the railbed as they leave the north end of the roadwalk through Keystone Heights at NW 75th St and stay on it for 25.5 miles. This unpaved section continues through Hampton, crossing US 301 to tunnel through timberlands southwest of Starke.

Orange blazes lead you out to the highway twice to use highway bridges to cross waterways, the New River being the most significant one. On the north side of the New River the pavement resumes as you pass the mid-point of the statewide Florida Trail near a sawmill. The paved trail crosses city streets and a highway as it comes into downtown Lake Butler, with the Union Depot serving as a nice terminus parking area.

Related Articles

• Florida Trail, New River to Hampton (6/23/2016) - A surprisingly pleasant section of the Florida Trail that sees very few hikers, the most remote part of the Palatka-Lake Butler Trail stretches 9.3 miles between Hampton and the New River, southwest of Starke.
• Lake Butler Trail (9/4/2015) - There aren't a lot of places you can (or should) bike down the Florida Trail, but the Lake Butler Trail in Union County is a nice country bike path that shares the trail with hikers.

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