Explore the best rated trails in Jacksonville, FL. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Fuller Warren Shared Use Path and Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail-Trail . With more than 16 trails covering 141 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
...A very good walking path, but always a work in progress due to Neverending construction...I for one miss the Landing!
If you’re looking to ride casually and enjoy great ocean and nature views, this is for you! There are some 5+ mile stretches to get in some light cardio. Plenty of good food/brew choices close by too
I have ridden this trail several times between the trail end at the St. Augustine end and the Amtrak station in Palatka.
The trail is nearly "calibrate you level" flat the whole way except for the bridge over the St. Johns River. It's easy to pedal.
A couple of long chunks of trail are along route 207, but the trail has it's own right of way, separated from the road by 30 feet or so. It can be a bit noisy and the traffic is moderate. There's not much shade, but there are nice views of farm fields.
The vast majority of the rest of the trail is shaded and runs through some wild areas, some wooded back yards and across a few streams. Very pleasing. The trail also goes through Hastings that has some interesting buildings. Just east of Hastings, is a farm complex that has a couple long horn cattle in a field as well as an old train station, caboose and locomotive that were apparently a museum at one time.
The trail winds along some streets of East Palatka, then over the bridge to Palatka proper. The trail will take you to the northwest side of town, but I usually turn around at the Amtrak station.
There is good parking, restrooms and bottle filling stations at the Vermont Heights, Armstrong and Cora C. Harrison (Hastings) trailheads. There is also some fast food and a gas station convenience store in East Palatka as well as a small parking lot.
The Amtrak station also has rest rooms as well as a small railroad museum inside.
There are a few road crossings with route 207 - which is a four lane highway with a median. They are all equipped with traffic signals to get you safely across.
The trail surface is asphalt-paved all the way and generally pretty good. There are some sections where it's getting bumpy from roots pushing up and the county should really try harder to keep the surface clean of leaves and pine needles, but there is nothing unsafe for a road bike - a hybrid/dual sport might make for a more comfortable ride, though.
What this trail REALLY needs is completion into St. Augustine. It would be a great tourist attraction and could help boost the economic activity of towns along the route.
This trail used to be the mainline of the Florida East Coast Railroad connecting Jacksonville to Miami (and briefly, Key West) along the east coast of Florida. Palatka was once a rail hub. But, the FEC built the Bunnell cut-off - a straight route from St. Augustine to Bunnell - to shorten the route and the Palatka "branch" declined and was abandoned before becoming a rail trail.
We have rode this a couple times in the last couple months. We parked at north end point of main trail where future trail will cross HWY 100 north of Keystone. It’s not really a parking area but there is room for about 6 cars and I saw other people parking there so we did too. As other people have said it is within 20-30 yards at times of HWY100 but it ducks in and out of the woods and there is plenty of trail that isn’t close to the highway. We rode out 22 miles to south of the State Forest north of Palatka and then headed back. There is a little
Great trail, I only planned on riding 1/2 but the wife got ahead of me & we went all the way. Made the turn & it started the heaviest rain I've ever ridden in. we stopped at stations & under passes then stood in the rain as we waited for the train to pass. Finished up after the rain quit for a great ride.
We did the ride from Palatka all way through Keystone Hts this week and it was amazing. Some false flats mixed in with some nice downhills make for great road biking route. We too pushed past the endpoint in Keystone Hts into newly paved trail. Could only go about 2.5 miles then it disconnects. But looks like other paved all the way into Hampton. Does anyone know the plans for connecting this to Lake Butler or not? Total ride end to end was 56.5miles.
Drove from Ocala to Palatka so we could start there and cross the bridge over the river. Unfortunately the bridge was closed off on Palatka side. We drove over the bridge drove over the bridge and parked at the Post Office which is right on the trail. Trail was in good shape except for edges in the woods where tree roots are starting. Rode 29 miles out and back. Enjoyed it! It was worth the drive. Closer to St. Augustine it was in sun along road that's why we turned around. Good beer at the brewery in Palatka for the end of the ride! A good day.
Majority of the trail is next to the main road (207) so little shade and quite noisy. Along the trail there is nothing to see but run down houses and cars. We were even heckled by two men who appeared to be homeless and under the influence. Didn’t feel particularly safe or fun. Wouldn’t recommend.
I can't give enough stars for such a nice wide trail that roams through beach views, piers, playgrounds, coastal ponds, historical buildings and more.
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