Discovering the Heritage Trail, Live Oak, Florida

Travelling through North Florida on US 90? You can stop in Live Oak for a walk, jog, or pedal on the Heritage Trail.

The Discovery Trail portion of the Heritage Trail

The Heritage Trail is a short--just over a mile and a quarter--paved rail trail spanning the southeast quadrant of Live Oak. The northern terminus of the trail is located just off US 90 (known locally as East Howard Street) on Trailhead Avenue SE. Trailhead Avenue was apparently previously known as Cooper Street; your favorite map app may still know it by the the old name. There are a few paved parking spots at the trailhead and more than a few places where you can park in the grass along the trail. Alternatively, you could park a bit farther south along the trail at Heritage Park--but then you'd miss the Discovery Trail section of the path.


Discovery Trail is the name of the 700 yards of the Heritage Trail between East Howard Street and Helvenston Street. Every few yards along the way, the Suwanne River Regional Library System has a page of a book posted in a display. On the day of my visit the book was Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type. By the time we reached Helvenston Street we had discovered what had become of the typing cattle. Along the way the trail had passed from the open ground near the trailhead to a shady wooded area, and then into a forested swamp. Street lamps lined the trail.

The current south end of the trail

South of Helvenston, the street lamps are gone and the pavement changes from concrete to blacktop. For a ways south, you can see Heritage Park through the trees on the east side of the trail. Trees surround the trail all the way to the next road crossing at Ada Street, not quite a mile from the trailhead. Between Ada Street and Miller Street, the trail leaves the old railroad bed and becomes a kind of sidewalk out in the sun along 109th Drive, a dirt road. South of Miller Street the trail returns to the rail route and to the woods. For the next 600 to 700 yards, you can see 109th Drive through the trees to the east and Jenkins Avenue through the trees to the west. Abruptly, you come to a cul de sac and the south end of the trail. There are paths leading from this terminus to both Jenkins and 109th, or you can turn around and go back.


The only lights are on the north end of the trail, but there are benches along the entire route--seven in all, each with its own trash can. The trash cans don't appear to be critter proof. Artwork is placed along the trail--quilt designs on the day I was there. Fences line both sides of the trail except at road crossings. The fences are low enough for pedestrians to step over, but are enough to discourage vehicles from getting onto the trail. Between the trail and the fences, there's a grassy shoulder wide enough to run or walk on if you're tired of pavement.

A milepost from railroad days along the Heritage Trail

As a rail trail, the Heritage Trail is absolutely flat. The route had its origins in the 1880s, when railroad tycoon Henry Plant laid rails from Live Oak to Branford, Florida, the Live Oak and Rowlands Bluff Railroad. Later, this became part of Plant's Live Oak, Tampa, and Charlott Harbor Railroad. The road was acquired by the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Coast Line, and CSX before being abandoned in the 1980s. South of Live Oak around Branford, the rail bed is being used for another paved rail trail, the twelve-and-a-half mile long Suwannee River Greenway. About twenty miles of new rail trail would connect the Heritage Trail to the Greenway, which in turn connects to the twelve miles of the Ichetucknee-to-O'Leno Trail. That would make for 45+ miles of bike trail, surely worth an overnight trip to Live Oak. However, the only extension in the works for the Heritage Trail is a short link to connect the north end of the trail with the downtown--City of Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency's Heritage Square Master Plan. That plan was published in May 2018, so don't hold your breath.


Links

• More Trouble Afoot! photos of Live Oak, Florida's Heritage Trail on 26 February 2023
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10120530402665333
  
  
• Looking for races in Live Oak? Try the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2896

Capital Cascades Trail creeps closer to a coastal connection at the FAMU Way grand opening

"This is what an All-American city looks like," said Andrew Gillum.


The mayor of Tallahassee, Florida was speaking at the Grand Opening event for the latest segment of the FAMU Way project, extending west from Wahnish Way to Pinellas Street just south of Railroad Square. If you were at the Friday, 10 June 2016, event, you'd have to agree with him. It's an attractive stretch of road, featuring landscaped medians and borders, bike lanes, a piece of the Capital Cascades Greenway Trail, a bicycle repair station, and a playground.

Capital Cascades Trail

This was the second of three parts of the FAMU Way project, which includes segment three of the Capital Cascades Trail. It's also the first part of the project to actually extend FAMU Way. Before the project, FAMU Way had just been the renamed Canal Street--a narrow lane that ran along the Saint Augustine Branch. The Saint Augustine Branch may at one time have been an attractive stream, but in living memory the creek had become a drainage ditch, ugly, dangerous, and prone to flooding. Blueprint 2000's plan for the Capital Cascades Trail included parks, trails, and roads, but it was primarily a stormwater management project. The Saint Augustine Branch is now confined underground to a box culver, and FAMU Way runs above it.


"You're standing on top of these big concrete pipes," Autumn Calder of Blueprint 2000 told the people at the Grand Opening. "Big enough to drive a truck through."

FAMU Way

Part two of the FAMU Way project, though, extends the road west of Wahnish Way, where Canal Street had never gone. Part three will take the road even farther, west and south to Gamble Street.


Of all the aspects of FAMU Way, I'm most impressed with the trail, and I'm not the only one. At the ribbon cutting during the grand opening, the ribbon stretched across the trail, not the roadway. When the Cascades Park Bridge over South Monroe Street is completed (not before 20 July 2016), the trail along FAMU Way will connect to Cascades Park and the rest of the Capital Cascades Trail. And when the third part of the FAMU Way project takes the trail to Gamble Street, Capital Cascades Trail will link with the Saint Marks Trail.


"A four-mile linear park right in the middle of our city," said Leon County Commission Bryan Desloge.

I'm not sure if it will be quite as far as four miles, but when Capital Cascades Trail is done, you'll be able to walk, run, or bicycle on paved, multi-use trail all the way from Leon High School to Saint Marks, Florida and the shores of the Saint Marks River--more than twenty miles. That day is coming--plans for part three of the FAMU Way project are being drawn up, and the mother of all Grand Openings can't be far behind.


Links

• More photos of the 10 June 2016 FAMU Way Grand Opening
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10107722224556933.1073742197.5215641&l=6b909afad4
  
  
• Blueprint 2000
  http://blueprint2000.org/
  
  
• The first race on the FAMU Way extension will be on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#1715

More Capital Circle SE improvements and another mile of trail

On 27 June 2011 work started on Capital Circle Southeast improvements between the Crawfordville Highway and the Woodville Highway. The project won't include the intersection at the Woodville Highway, which has already been improved--good news for the Tallahassee Marathon's 2012 return to the St Marks Trail, which crosses Capital Circle Southeast at that intersection. The intersection at Crawfordville Highway is also already up to specifications, and won't be part of the project.


For the 1.15 miles of Capital Circle Southeast that will be included, the existing two-lane rural road will be widened to a seven-lane divided highway. According to a Blueprint 2000 news release, the completed roadway will include "curb and gutter, sidewalk, a meandering trail, bicycle lanes, a landscaped median, as well as significant stormwater improvements." Well, the existing road already had bicycle lanes but a sidewalk is always a good thing. The 1.15 miles of new "meandering trail" will extend the five miles of paved trail currently in place along Capital Circle Southeast east of the Woodville Highway, as well as connecting with the St Mark Trail. As part of an existing network of paved trail, the new trail will be especially useful. For instance, a bicycle outing on the St. Marks Trail could include a side trip to businesses (e.g., Publix, Burger King, Hobbit Hoagie) at Crawfordville Highway and Capital Circle Southeast. Using the new trail, the Flash 12K could be a simple out-and-back from J. Lewis Hall Park instead of a combination of two out-and-back courses. A new out-and-back 5K or longer course could be laid out from the Crawfordville Road Publix using the new trail and the St Marks Trail, a course that used no roads and crossed no highways.


The project is scheduled to be completed in summer 2012. $8.7 million of the cost of the $10.3 million project is federal funds secured through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.


Links:

• Pre-construction photos of Capital Circle Southeast (Crawfordville Rd to Woodville Hwy)
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100910572327603.3173603.5215641&l=2b13a40a77
  
  
• BluePrint 2000
  http://www.blueprint2000.org/
  
  
• Press release: “Capital Circle Roadway Widening Project Set to Start Next Week 'Crawfordville Road to Woodville Highway'”
  http://www.talgov.com/pubworks/pdf/bp2000/crawfordville-woodville-hwy-062111.pdf
  
  
• Capital Circle Southeast, Tallahassee, Florida
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/02/capital-circle-southeast-tallahassee.html
  
  

"Stretch Your Legs" trails on I-10 in west Florida

If you're driving back to Florida from one of those dreary Gulf coast destinations like Biloxi or New Orleans, chances are (unless you're unfortunate enough to live in Pensacola) you'll be heading east on Interstate 10 through Santa Rosa County. Where, if you're feeling road-weary, you can stop at the rest area near mile marker 30 and walk on the "Stretch Your Legs Trail."


The trail is a narrow concrete loop that meanders around the perimeter of the rest area. Several signs are posted that give the length of the loop at 0.267 miles. Clearly someone out there has a compulsion about precision. The trail passes between parking areas and the rest rooms twice, which means traffic on the trail crosses traffic heading to and from the plumbing. Because of that I wouldn't recommend running on the trail, so forget about staging a four-lap "Nautical Mile Championship of North Florida" at the rest area. It is a good place to, well, stretch your legs, though, fighting fatigue that leads to auto accidents. Someone should be hitting up auto insurance companies to fund these at every highway rest area.


This isn't the only such loop on I-10. About another 30 miles east, the Okaloosa County rest area at mile marker 59 (eastbound) has an identical 0.267 mile loop. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, the westbound rest areas in Okaloosa and Santa Rosa Counties each have similar 0.256 mile walking trails. That's it for Interstate 10 in Florida, except for the Fanny Bay Trail in Baker County at the westbound rest area at mile marker 318. A real trail through the Osceola National Forest, the Fanny Bay Trail is in a league of its own. I still dream about the Florida Division of Forestry and the Florida Department of Transportation getting together to put together a similar trail in the Talquin State Forest next to the I-10 rest area in Leon County at mile marker 194. But I'm not holding my breath.


Links:

• The Santa Rosa County I-10 rest area at mile marker 30
  http://www.dot.state.fl.us/statemaintenanceoffice/Rest_Area_Listing.shtm#Santa Rosa County Rest Area
  
  
• The Okaloosa County 1-10 rest area at mile marker 59
  http://www.dot.state.fl.us/statemaintenanceoffice/Rest_Area_Listing.shtm#Okaloosa County Rest Area
  
  
• The Fanny Bay Trail at the I-10 rest area (westbound) at mile marker 318
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/09/fanny-bay-trail-osceola-national-forest.html
  
  
  

Walking on water--hiking across the Apalachicola

If you're through-hiking the Florida National Scenic Trail or you have some other reason to be walking across the Florida panhandle, you're eventually going to have to cross the Apalachicola River. Some river crossings on the Florida Trail are a bit iffy. At St Marks, for instance, the trail simply stops at the banks of the St Marks River, where a small signs advises you to "Hail Boat to Cross." Crossings of the Aucilla and Suwanee rivers are on highway bridges. The crossing of the Apalachicola is also on a highway bridge, the eastbound span of the Trammell Bridge, which carries traffic on SR 20 from Blountstown to Bristol. But you don't have to worry about sociopaths in motor vehicles trying to knock you into the river because the bridge has a dedicated lane for pedestrians and bicycles.


The hiker/biker lane was included when the eastbound span was built in the late 1990s. Before that, the Trammell Bridge was an old two-lanes-with-no-shoulder span that dated back to the 1930s. I remember riding to track meets in Panama City on a school bus back in the 1970s; going across the old bridge could be thrilling. The old bridge is now the westbound span of the bridge, with no room for pedestrians or cyclists who want a long and healthy life. The hiker/biker lane on the eastbound span, though, is a model of safety.


For one thing, the lane is separated from motor traffic by a low concrete wall. This isn't a typical highway bike lane, with only a four-inch painted line between fragile bicycles and hurtling tractor-trailers. A breakdown lane and a wall divides the human beings from speeding tons of steel. Your protection from motor traffic assured, you can turn your worries to the river, 55 feet below. Another low wall separates you from the drop into the Apalachicola, but this is topped by a high railing. You could still fall into the river if you heaved yourself up onto the wall and then climbed to the top of the railing, but I don't think that you could call it an accident.


The exact length depends on how you want to measure it, but the biker/hiker lane across the Apalachicola is about 1.6 miles long. This distance will probably inspire someone to think of staging an out-and-back 5K across the river, but forget it. The lane is quite narrow--"ordinary sidewalk width," the signs say--and eastbound runners would be sure to interfere with westbound runners. Because the Apalachicola River marks the boundary between the Eastern and Central Time Zones, it might be interesting to do a "Time Warp 3K," where the runners start on the east side of the bridge and finish before they started (according to local clocks) on the west side of the bridge. Or at least it would be interesting if there weren't a possibility of eastbound cyclists needing the lane at the same time as the westbound runners. Then it would be too interesting.

Best just to leave the biker/hiker lane as a safe way for the non-motorized to cross the Apalachicola River. For Florida Trail hikers, it's not much of a wilderness experience. But even the Appalachian Trail crosses the Little Tennessee River on the spine of Fontana Dam, which, as one of the largest concrete structures in the world, is hardly a woodland.

Links:

• Florida Department of Transportation page about the SR 20 Apalachicola River bridge project
  http://www.dot.state.fl.us/Structures/botm/sr20/sr20.htm
  
  
• Photos of the old Trammell Bridge in the Florida Photographic Archives
  http://ibistro.dos.state.fl.us/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/x/0/5?library=PHOTO&item_type=PHOTOGRAPH&searchdata1=Blountstown%20Bridge
  
  
  

A tour of the Cody Climb 8K road race course

I put together the Cody Climb 8K after writing an article observing that there wasn't currently an eight-kilometer event on the Tallahassee racing schedule. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The course is a sort of loop in the Southwood area of Tallahassee. I thought it would be fun to use kilometer marks instead of mile marks. Later on (when it was too late), I realized that this meant more places to locate and mark. I never thought of that advantage to Imperial measurement. Among other streets and trails, the course uses the east end of Orange Avenue, which is an old enough street to be the address for Conley Elementary School, but not an old enough street to be on any of the online map utilities (e.g., Google maps). This makes it hard to post a map of the course. Instead, I'm posting this photographic tour of the course.


This is a view from the starting line. The course starts on the Capital Circle SE Trail just north of Shumard Oaks Boulevard. The trail is a "wide, meandering sidewalk" that runs for 4.9 miles along Capital Circle SE (US 319). The Cody Climb 8K course uses just over two kilometers of the trail. From the start, you go directly south to Shumard Oaks Boulevard.



Here is where you run into Shumard Oaks Boulevard. Turn left (east) here onto Shumard Oaks.



Head east, staying on the left side of Shumard Oaks. You might feel safer staying in the bicycle lane. I won't tell you not to run on the sidewalk, but the course was measured on the blacktop.



The first kilometer ends at the corner of Shumard Oaks Boulevard and Four Oaks Boulevard. At the corner you turn left, heading north on Shumard Oaks.



Here the course is heading north on Shumard Oaks Boulevard towards the Southwood Town Center. You're starting uphill now, climbing the Cody Escarpment out of the coastal plain.



Here you cross Merchants Way on Four Oaks Boulevard. Do not be hit by a truck while crossing Merchants Way.



The two kilometer mark is on Four Oaks Boulevard at the intersection with Verdura Point Drive.



Four Oaks Boulevard intersects with Blairstone Road at a roundabout. Keep to the left side of the roundabout and stay on Four Oaks Boulevard. Do not be hit by a cement mixer in the roundabout.



Be careful not to wander out of the roundabout and onto Blairstone Road; you want to continue around to the north end of Four Oaks Boulevard. Do not be hit by a runaway Toyota in the roundabout.



The three-kilometer mark is about halfway through the roundabout. Do not be crushed by a Humvee while negotiating the roundabout.



Soon after you leave the roundabout, you'll be able to look ahead and see the end of Four Oaks Boulevard at Orange Avenue. Conley Elementary School is at that intersection.



Here's a view of Conley Elementary School from the last bit of Four Oaks Boulevard.



The end of Four Oaks Boulevard. Go left around the corner and head west on Orange Avenue.



Shortly after you turn onto Orange Avenue you reach the four kilometer mark, the halfway point of the Cody Climb 8K.



Here's a view of a straight and relatively flat stretch of Orange Avenue. For better or worse, though, you haven't seen the last of the uphill yet.



Another view west on Orange Avenue, showing more hills. At the top of the next hill you'll be turning left onto the Capital Circle SE trail.



The five kilometer mark is on Orange Avenue just before the left (south) turn onto the Capital Circle Southeast trail.



After leaving Orange Avenue you'll head south on the Capital Circle Southeast trail. The trail meanders quite a bit, so make sure you cut tangents (that's where the course was measured). There's still a bit of climbing left.



When you finally reach the crest of the course, if the air is clear you'll be able to enjoy views to the south of the coastal plain. Some of the views east into Southwood aren't bad either. Both are preferable to watching the traffic to the right on US 319.



You'll continue south on the trail across Blairstone Road. Do not be struck by a bus crossing Blairstone. The six-kilometer mark is on the trail just past Blairstone Road.



The seven kilometer mark is at the foot of the Cody Scarp, just before the Capital Circle SE trail arrives at Merchants Way. Turn left (east) at Merchants Way.



Head east on Merchants Way to the first right.



The first right off of Merchants Way is nameless road that accesses parking for the offices along Esplanade Way. Head south on this No Name Road.



No Name Road winds around a bit at first.



Then there's a long, straight stretch on No Name Road.



After a little more winding, No Name Road ends at Shumard Oaks Boulevard. Turn right (west) onto Shumard Oaks Boulevard.



Heads west along Shumard Oaks Boulevard.



Turn right off of Shumard Oaks Boulevard onto this concrete driveway. Head between the yellow posts and then make a beeline across the grass to the finish line on the Capital Circle SE trail. The finish line should be familiar; it was also the starting line.

Links:

• Pieces of Eight (the article that started this nonsense)
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/01/piece-of-eight.html
  
  
• 2010 Cody Climb 8K announcement
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/02/2010-cody-climb-8k.html
  
  
• The course tour on Facebook
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2820704&id=5215641&l=db80bee127
  
  

Lake Henrietta getting a new bridge and access trail

Lake Henrietta Park is getting a new footbridge.

The bridge will cross Munson Slough, connecting the 6700-foot-long paved, multi-use trail around Lake Henrietta to a new trail, also under construction. The new trail will run along a creek (the East Drainage Ditch) to a point on North Ridge Road, just across the street from Silver Lake Park, 3321 North Ridge Road. Don't confuse this with Silver Lake Recreation Area in the Apalachicola National Forest! Silver Lake Park is a small city park on the south side of Tallahassee. You'd think that there would be a "one 'Silver Lake' per county" rule.

The new bridge and trail will give the neighborhoods east of Lake Henrietta Park direct access to the park. Visitors to Lake Henrietta Park will also be able to use Silver Lake Park as an alternative to the trailhead off of Springhill Road--Silver Lake Park has a few more parking spots than the dozen or so at the Springhill Road trailhead. I hope this was intentional because it would show unusual inter-government co-operation (Silver Lake Park is a city park while Lake Henrietta Park is a county park).

The bridge itself seems sturdy to the point of being over-engineered. Supported by enormous concrete pillars and spanned by steel I-beams, it looks ready to carry highway traffic. The wooden ramp approaching the deck from the east, however, isn't quite as heavy-duty, but looks adequate for bicycle and foot traffic. The new bridge and trail aren't quite finished, but appear only weeks away from being ready for use. Keep an eye out for an announcement of the dedication ceremony!

Links:

• A few more photos of the bridge
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2811253&id=5215641&l=92bb9fa5ee
  
  
• Lake Henrietta Trail
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/01/lake-henrietta-trail.html
  
  
  

Centerville Trail, Tallahassee, Florida

The Centerville Trail is a paved, ten-foot wide, 1.72-mile long multi-use trail in the northeast of Leon County. Also called the Centerville Conservation Trail, the Pisgah Church Pedway, and the Centerville Pedway, the trail runs along the north side of Pisgah Church Road and the west side of Centerville Road, hugging the border of the Centerville Conservation Community. The trail's pavement is a coarse, permeable blacktop, covered in many places with leaves or pine needles as it meanders underneath huge live oaks.

Here's an end-to-end description of the Centerville Trail, starting from the west.

The west end of the trail is along Pisgah Church Road, less than a tenth of a mile from the intersection with Bradfordville Road. Residents of the Baker Place subdivision can access the trail using a footpath leading about 100 yards from a greenspace along Grenville Road. The rest of us are out of luck; Baker Place has their path marked by a friendly sign reading "PRIVATE PROPERTY--Baker Place Homeowners Association."

Heading east, Pisgah Church Road is close at hand on the right, while a longleaf pine and wiregrass environment is on the left. This is designated on maps of the Centerville Conservation Community as a gopher tortoise preserve. At 0.30 miles the trail crosses Wiregrass Way and the longleaf pines give way to live oaks and rail fences. This is horse land; occasional signs ask that you "Please avoid contact with the horses." East of Wiregrass Way the trail crosses two small wooden bridges across seasonal streams (drainage ditches to anyone who doesn't write poetry or real estate ad copy). At 0.70 miles there is a small parking area to the right of the trail, only large enough for two or three cars. This is the closest to a trailhead that the Centerville Trail has.

The trail reaches the intersection of Pisgah Church Road and Centerville Road at 0.86 miles, and makes a sharp left turn to follow Centerville Road. On the left there is a view of a holding pond inside the horse fence. The trail starts a respectable climb here; this is not a pancake-flat rail trail. Centerville Road is busier than Pisgah Church Road, so you can usually hear traffic noise. On the other hand, the trail is often far enough away from Centerville Road that the traffic doesn't intrude on your eyes even if it trespasses on your ears.

At 1.12 miles the trail crosses Conservation Drive. A plaque here reads:

Centerville Conservation
TRAIL
____________________

This trail is dedicated to the citizens of Leon County
by Conservation Community Group as scenic byway
for the everlasting enjoyment of our canopy roads.
____________________

July 2007

The Centervillle Conservation Community is a lot more hospitable than Baker Place.

On the other hand, Centerville Conservation Community maintains about seven miles of trails for the sole use of its residents. You can see one of these blue-blazed trails intersecting the Centerville Trail on the left at 1.38 miles and another at 1.42 miles. These flank a swamp that has been set aside for snakes and birds. At 1.63 miles the trail crosses Lick Skillet Drive, a short dead-end road that is home to four vacant lots. Shortly after crossing Lick Skillet is the east end of the Centerville Trail, 1.72 miles from the west end. Beyond the trail's end is City of Tallahassee / Leon County Fire Station Number 11. If you have a moment, stop and admire their memorial garden.

The Centerville Trail passes some rich wildlife habitats. You'd have to be totally oblivious not to spot a dozen species of birds along the way. Quail and red-headed woodpeckers seem especially abundant. Fox squirrels roam the live oak woods. There are only three road crossings, all Centerville Conservation Community roads, which will never see much traffic even when the development fills up.


Other than the few parking spots along Pisgah Church Road a couple of tenths of a mile from Centerville Road, there isn't any place for visitors to access the Centerville Trail. But at only 1.72 miles long, the trail may be too short to attract many visitors. It's a good trail for local users, though, and you can spot more than a few people walking it. I've never seen horses on the trail, but frequent patches of manure testify to their passage. And the Centerville Road Trail is not far away. Each of the two trails is less than two miles long, but if they could be connected then northeast Tallahassee would have a respectable multi-use trail--albeit a respectable multi-use trail in need of a trailhead.

Links:

• A previous report on the Centerville Trail
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2007/07/centerville-conservation-community.html
  
  
• More photos of the Centerville Trail
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2777178&id=5215641&l=fbaed7ff26
  
  
•