Get Ready to Celebrate
Florida’s Greenways and Trails Month this October
Fall will soon be here with
welcome cooler weather to enjoy hiking, biking, running,
skating, horseback riding and paddling activities. Throughout
the month of October, Floridians and visitors are invited to
explore and celebrate the state’s many beautiful greenways
and trails with festivities such as dedications, educational
exhibits,
trail rides, paddling excursions,
trail blazing, birding, clean-up events and more. To help
your county or region participate in Florida Greenways and
Trails Month, see our
Program Guide for event ideas and planning tools. Event
registration for the statewide Greenways and Trails month web
calendar will open in September. Plan now to join in the
celebration!
VISITFLORIDA.com to Launch
New Trails-Tourism Website in October
On October 4, highlighting the
opening of Florida Greenways and Trails Month, an important
event will take place that will dramatically advance
Florida’s trails and provide invaluable travel planning
information to Florida’s visitors. VISIT FLORIDA, the
Sunshine State’s official tourism marketing corporation, will
launch a new component of VISITFLORIDA.com exclusively
dedicated to Florida’s trails. Rising to the ranks of
traveler destinations such as beaches, resorts, golf courses
and themed attractions, trails will now be featured for
Florida visitors and residents to include in their vacation
plans. This new section of the VISIT FLORIDA website
will bring together trail descriptions and maps with
information about lodging, restaurants, outfitters and other
travel related services.
At its debut, the new
full-featured trail section of VISITFLORIDA.com will launch
with over 100 trails, but this will be just the beginning. OGT
and VISIT FLORIDA plan to expand the website over time to
include a wide range of trails throughout the state. For more
information, please see the
website fact sheet
(PDF 91 kb)
Resurfacing of the
Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail
Phase 1 construction is underway.
The southern 7.1 miles of the trail is currently closed
between the Wakulla Station Trailhead (8.9 mile-marker) and
Riverside Drive in the City of St. Marks to (16-mile marker).
All of Phase 1 construction is scheduled to be completed by
December 2010. The remaining 8.9 miles of the Trail,
north of the Wakulla Station Trailhead, to the Main Trailhead
will remain open until Phase 1 construction is complete.
The St. Marks Trail was the first rail-trail in the
State trail system to be paved. After 22 years of service,
it’s time to address wear and tear, as well as safety issues
such as bumps, dips, crumbling edges and drop offs at the
edge of the pavement. These improvements are necessary for
safety and to make the trail more usable for recreational
users, especially those on thin tire bicycles and in-line
skates. While resurfacing the trail surface is the primary
objective of this project, during this process it will also
be widened to 12 ft. The trail currently has an 8 foot wide
paved surface.
GOVERNOR AND CABINET APPROVE
PURCHASE OF TRENTON-NEWBERRY RAIL-TRAIL PROJECT
~Florida Forever Acquisition will
extend the Nature Coast State Trail~
Governor Charlie Crist and the
Florida Cabinet have approved the DEP Office of Greenways &
Trails’ (OGT) proposal to purchase a 9.33-mile rail corridor
in Gilchrist County, utilizing OGT's Florida Forever
acquisition funding. This corridor, known as the
Trenton-Newberry Rail-Trail project, will ultimately serve as
an extension of the 31.7-mile
Nature Coast State Trail (NCST) that is managed by OGT.
The rail-trail project will begin
in Trenton at the Trenton Depot trailhead and terminate
approximately three miles from the town of Newberry. It will
traverse a relatively undeveloped portion of Gilchrist
County, known as the Wacasassa Flats, to connect with
existing sections of the NCST in Dixie and Levy
Counties. Thanks to the support of The Trust for Public
Land, in cooperation with other state and local agencies,
this rail-trail corridor will increase the connectivity of a
popular multi-use trail and help benefit the economy of this
region. The NCST is a component of Florida's Statewide
Greenways and Trails System and was recently designated as a
National Recreation Trail by the U.S. Department of the
Interior.
Trails: The Green
Way for Florida:
Council Signs Resolution – Trails and Greenways an Economic
Boost for Florida
Nature-based tourism is a growing trend
and a record-setting year of visitation shows that Florida’s
trails and greenways are at the forefront of a movement that
helps bolster the state’s economy. The Florida
Greenways and Trails Council has unanimously supported a
resolution recognizing the economic impact of Florida’s
trails and greenways. (View
the resolution)
Please “Pardon our
Progress” on the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail
Good things are happening on the Florida Keys Overseas
Heritage Trail! We appreciate your patience as we move
forward. Every effort will be made to minimize disruptions,
but be please prepared that several construction projects to
retrofit and/or repair certain historic bridges and to
develop additional sections of the Florida Keys Overseas
Heritage Trail (FKOHT) are scheduled to take place over the
coming months.
As of May 3, construction activities began on a section of
the FKOHT in Marathon, within the Florida Department of
Transportation’s Right-of-Way. The 7-mile project, which
runs from from MM 47‑MM 54, will implement numerous
safety improvements and is targeted for completion in
approximately six months. Sections within this project will
be reopened as they are completed. For a schedule of this
trail project and FAQs, see the Marathon Construction
Schedule in the Highlights menu
and Trail Talk(PDF
1.34 mb) newsletter for road work updates.
FKOHT office in Key Largo: (305) 853-3571
Florida's Multi-Use Trail
Network
Did you know that Florida’s Multi-Use
Trail Network Opportunity Map contains more than 8,000 miles
of existing, planned and potential trail corridors?
This map joins the Hiking and Paddling Trail Network maps to
define the vision for a connected trails system throughout
Florida, and determine eligibility for funding to purchase
land under Florida’s greenways and trails acquisition
program. In July, OGT reported to the Florida Greenways and
Trails Council that an estimated 1,710 miles of corridors
within the more than 8,000 miles in the Multi-Use Trail
Network are already in public ownership for an existing or
planned trail. This means that Florida is more than 20% of
the way toward establishing what is likely the most ambitious
and comprehensive planned trail network in the nation.
This speaks to the popularity of trails in Florida as
community and regional projects, as well as the importance of
working to continue to protect opportunities for multi-use
trails in the nearly 80% of the Multi-Use Trail Network that
is not currently in ownership for a trail. For more
information on the progress of Florida's Multi-Use Trail
Network, please see the
July 2009 Report (PDF 2.5 mb).
The Office of Greenways & Trails (OGT) is working to
establish a statewide system of greenways and trails for
recreation,
conservation, and alternative transportation. Our efforts are guided by a legislatively
adopted plan titled "Connecting Florida's Communities." View a
summary
of the plan (PDF 1.5 mb).
The Office of Greenways & Trails works directly with local
communities, developers, private landowners and state and
federal agencies to facilitate the establishment of the
statewide system of greenways and trails.
Greenways & Trails
2010 State of Florida