Friday, June 11, 2010

Now that's a trailhead (Red Bug)

On a mission to find out what one the Tallahassee Parks & Recreation Department's "standard kiosks" looks like (which is another story entirely), I swung by the youth sports fields at Elinor Klapp Phipps Park (aka Meridian Park) earlier this week. The first kiosk I saw happened to be at the trailhead for the Red Bug Trail.

Wow!

This is also the trailhead for the Coon Bottom Loop hiking trail. There's a tendency for Tallahasseans to run off to Torreya State Park or even farther away for a good hike, but you can get quite tired and dirty right in Phipps Park. And you can start your walk at the Cadillac of trail heads right off Meridian Road.

There's parking right next to the trailhead, which is a pretty minimal requirement but one that's not always met. Then there's the kiosk. Which is huge. And roofed. With built-in benches. You could live under this kiosk. And the city of Tallahassee and the Florida Trail Association actually post some useful information on it.


For cyclists who have been out on the Red Bug Trail, there's a bike wash.


After your bike or hike if you're sweaty or dirty or just don't want to take the ticks home with you, there's a shower (with an attached re-hydration device).


And then there's the trail itself, with a mailbox for dispensing maps. This is the entrance to the Coon Bottom hiking loop. Cyclists shouldn't be too miffed by the "No Bikes" sign; the Red Bug Off-Road bike trail is just a few feet away.


It's not perfect. The Meridian Park rest rooms are at least a hundred-yard walk away. But if you've ever gone for a hike and ended up spending a good chunk of time just trying to find the trail, this Red Bug trailhead looks pretty good.

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Posted by Herb Wills at 3:34 PM
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2 comments:

  1. MichaelJuly 17, 2010 at 1:57 PM

    Herb:
    Thanks for this post. I parked at the Meridian Trailhead, then ran the following loops in counter-clockwise direction: Coon Bottom Loop to marker "Z", then Swamp Forest Loop to marker to marker "G", then Creek Forest Trail to marker "H", then Oak Hammock Loop back to marker "H", then Creek Forest Trail again to marker "G", then Swamp Forest Loop to marker "S", then Coon Bottom Loop back to the trailhead. I never would have tried that route but for your post. Thanks.

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  2. Herb WillsJuly 17, 2010 at 2:30 PM

    Glad to hear it! The Phipps Park trail system is not only extensive, but it's so well mapped and marked that you were able to come up with a great run and then describe exactly what you had done. And all inside the Tallahassee city limits!

    Herb.

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