Once the site of much heavy digging, first for an open pit dolomite mine and then the Cross Florida Barge Canal, Felburn Park is part of the Cross Florida Greenway.
Long mounds of fill characterize these disturbed landscapes, creating unusually hilly terrain that’s been undisturbed long enough to host native species.
Phil’s Lake is an open pit mine full of waterHome to the easternmost access point to the paved Withlacoochee Bay Trail, Felburn Park also has a lesser-known hiking trail.
From all appearances, the Phil’s Lake Trail appears to have been established a couple of decades ago. Trail markers are faded or missing.
However, it has two established overlook shelters and a high point panorama well worth the sometimes tricky to follow circuit.
One of the views from the ridgeResources
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Overview
Location: Crystal River
Length: 1.8 mile loop
Trailhead: 29.01237, -82.65688
Address: 10201 N Suncoast Blvd, Crystal River
Fees: Free
Restroom: Flush toilets
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 352-758-1000
Open 8 AM to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome. Picnic pavilion adjoins restrooms.
Directions
From the intersection of SR 44 with US 19 in Crystal River, follow US 19 north for 6.4 miles to the traffic light for Dunnellon Rd. Continue another 2.9 miles on US 19 to the signposted turnoff on the right just before the bridge. It looks like you’re pulling into an RV park but the road slips past it into Felburn Park. Take a right at the park sign to follow the road to the parking area.
Hike
From the parking area, head towards the trail opening beyond the right side of the restrooms, marked only by a Great Florida Birding Trail sign.
The broad grassy corridor opens into a trail junction with the paved bike path beyond. Bear right.
Start of the hikeAt the next junction, bear right where a lone cabbage palm dominates a triangular island of vegetation, starting a counterclockwise circuit around Phil’s Lake.
Low grasses and tufts of cordgrass blanket a hillside of old mine tailings, now repopulated by cedars and wax myrtle.
Rewilded hillsideAlong with cabbage palms, those species have made the strongest foothold on the long lines of rock piles blocking Phil’s Lake from view.
At the next junction, bear left. Although there are occasional posts and faded or torn trail markers, none of the junctions are clearly marked.
Walk a straightaway between cedar trees, meeting a broad path at a T junction with an old post. Bear left. Continue along a straightaway that climbs slowly.
Long straightaway before Y junctionAt a quarter mile, bear left at a Y to head downhill towards the lake. Increasingly hemmed in, the grassy pathway narrows. Duck under palm fronds.
The grasses grow over a layer of limestone pebbles and rocks and boulders left behind when the mine was abandoned.
Phil’s LakeFramed by cedars, the first of a series of views of Phil’s Lake open up from this rocky terrace high above its waters.
Continue along the grassy terrace, coming to a spot where there’s an obvious beaten path to the right up and over a small sand ridge opposite of the lake.
Path over the sand ridgeFrom the ridge, a paralleling sand road is obvious below. Descend to it past a large gopher tortoise burrow and make a right to follow the road.
Narrowing through a line of oaks, the road curves to a view of marsh along the upper end of Phil’s Lake at a half mile.
Marsh viewKeep with the sand road as it curves around the end of the lake and into a mesic flatwoods dominated by slash pines and sand live oaks.
A break in the forest reveals a fabulous panorama of the lake spreading off to the far horizon.
Lake viewRamble through the flatwoods, the hill on the left more mine tailings now covered in forest. One steep sand hill has gopher tortoise burrows in it.
Follow gentle curves in the two-track road between the pines and oaks, circling around a sizable live oak to pass a stand of young longleaf pines.
Young longleaf pinesAt 0.8 mile, meet a T intersection in front of a sand mound with an enormous gopher tortoise burrow. Turn left.
Walk through a more mature forest, seemingly untouched by past mining. Saw palmetto covers the forest floor.
Gopher tortoise burrow at T junctionReturning to the rewilded disturbed mining landscape, follow the grassy two-track between clusters of cabbage palms.
An alligator warning sign calls attention to a side path. Descend towards a sheltered bench at an observation point near lake level.
Lakefront benchAs the mine was dug, it broke into the Floridan Aquifer. The same freshwater source of springs around Crystal River filled the mine.
Stepping to the right of the bench, you can peer into the depths of this basin of cool, clear water, seeing boulders below.
Boulders shimmer under the surfaceClimb back to the junction and bear left. The steepness of the uphill is a surprise. Waterbars help prevent erosion of the footpath.
Follow an ever-narrowing ridge with fabulous views of the lake. A boundary fence is below to the right. Keep climbing.
Start of safety fences outlining pathBy a mile, the ridge narrows enough that fencing defines the sides of the trail. Keep climbing. The height this ridge reaches is downright startling.
On the right it drops off into the yard of a neighboring homestead. On the left, the views across the lake to the far horizon beyond it are phenomenal.
View across the landscapeThe towers in the distance belong to the former Crystal River nuclear power plant, now a coal-fired power plant. It sits on the estuary edging the Gulf of Mexico.
Reach a sheltered observation bench at the high point of the ridge at 1.2 miles and savor the expansive view.
Looking northwest from the benchPast the bench, start a steep descent, the ridge rocky and peppered with a thicket of cedars on this drop to sea level.
At the T intersection past a pile of boulders, make a left. Walk the grassy track under the spreading branches of live oaks.
Descent off ridgeEmerge from the forest into an open area with pines and cedars. At the Y intersection, take the left fork to stay near the lake.
At the next junction, the right fork goes directly to the bike path. Take the left fork, walking amid cabbage palms and cedars.
Distant bench on ridgeViews of Phil’s Lake open up once more. The observation bench at the high point is across the water.
Walk an alley defined by older cedar trees along the lakeshore, where a rocky protrusion invites one final view towards the lakefront bench at 1.4 miles.
Final glimpse of Phil’s LakeThe grassy path descends through a cattail marsh, sweeping into a slight ascent to meet the paved bike path by 1.6 miles.
Visible uphill to the right is a post marking where the “official” route emerged at the bike path, cutting off the scenic quarter mile you just walked.
Exiting to the bike pathTurn left to walk the paved path through the isthmus between freshwater Phil’s Lake and the brackish Cross Florida Barge Canal.
A developer wanted to break this open to create a marina, which would’ve caused serious saltwater intrusion into the aquifer.
Cove along the Cross Florida Barge CanalInstead, the mine property was purchased with the help of the Felburn Foundation and became part of the Cross Florida Greenway.
Climb uphill away from the basin off the canal through two curves, the second one revealing a grassy opening on the left.
Leave the pavement and bear right past the post to seal your loop, exiting towards the trailhead restrooms to finish this 1.8 mile hike at the parking area.
Trail junction to seal the loopTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Felburn Park and the Withlacoochee Bay Trail
Felburn Park The eastern terminus of the Withlacoochee Bay Trail is home to a surprisingly hilly trail above a freshwater marsh along the saltwater Cross Florida Barge Canal.
Withlacoochee Bay Trail Paralleling a completed segment of the ill-conceived Cross Florida Barge Canal, this 5.1 mile paved bike path surprises with hills, overlooks, and a panorama stretching to the Gulf of Mexico.Video
Hiking Phil’s Lake Trail
Slideshow
See our photos from Phil’s Lake Trail
Nearby Adventures
Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve Immerse in the beauty of an expansive coastal estuary at Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve in Yankeetown to take in the panoramic views.
Inglis Dam & Island Recreation Area The former deeply wooded north shore of the Withlacoochee River became an island in the 1960s with construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal.
Crystal River Eco-Walk Traversing floodplain forests and mesic flatwoods, the ecological diversity of the Eco-Walk Trail is stunning, though at times it may require wet shoes to complete the loop. 
Churchhouse Hammock Trail Explore a showy coastal hammock within Crystal River Preserve State Park from an easily-accessed pair of loops just north of downtown Crystal River.
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