Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
At the confluence of the Rainbow River and the Withlacoochee River, Dunnellon is an outpost for adventures in the woods and on the water.
INTERACTIVE MAP
Along this stretch of the Florida Trail through sandhills and scrub, you’ll scramble over more historic diggings and see fern-draped limestone boulders scattered through the forest
241 miles. With segments linking Withlacoochee State Forest and the Cross Florida Greenway, the Western Corridor provides access to wild spaces north of Tampa.
On May 16, 2014, DEP’s Office of Greenways & Trails opened a new bridge and trail along the Cross Florida Greenway, the Dunnellon Trail, providing a crucial connector for the Florida Trail.
A 2.4 mile loop showing off the habitat diversity of Ross Prairie State Forest, this easy hike provides scenic panoramas across the prairie on a mostly shaded trail.
Just south of the Withlacoochee River lies the Two Mile Prairie Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest, where the Johnson Pond Trail provides a walk through sandhills and oak scrub, touching on prairies along its 2.7-mile loop.
With two loops along an oxbow in the Withlacoochee River, the Oxbow Trail is the northernmost trail in Withlacoochee State Forest and a scenic short walk.
The Sandhill Trail at Rainbow Springs State Park leads hikers into rolling terrain punctuated with ravines created by mining and restored by nature, and offers a new perspective on the Rainbow River
A place of beauty that morphed from phosphate pits to botanical attraction over the course of a century, Rainbow Springs State Park cradles one of Florida’s most beautiful first-magnitude springs and the river it creates in a wrap of shady forests and gardens.
Ready for some nostalgia? Here’s a peek at what Rainbow Springs used to be like back in the 1960s, courtesy of Linda Friend. And yes, that’s Sandy in the photos.
A 3.5-mile loop using blue-blazed connectors and the Florida Trail to circle Ross Prairie, the Ross Prairie Loop shows off the beauty of this prairie on the Cross Florida Greenway.
When a sea of sunflowers pops up along the Cross Florida Greenway, it’s an attention getter. Meet Cannon Farms, a family farm right along the Florida Trail in Dunnellon.
When you’re headed down US 41 from Dunnellon towards Inverness, a stop at the Front Porch is a must. Why? Homemade pies.
