Mountain Biking
Withlacoochee State Forest - Croom
Just northeast of Brooksville, Florida
I can ride for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles... Perfect trails when the weather isn't so perfect.
by Dana Farnsworth, Outdoor Travels
Originally a phosphate mining area in the 1890s, Withlacoochee State Forest is a rather large tract of land that sports some very varied terrain and landscape. Most of the trails were created for an annual motorcycle race that continues to this day. This has created some fun-riding whoop-te-doos for bikers to enjoy. The terrain varies from hardwood oak forest to slash pine and beautiful marshland brimming with tons of wild flowers. Riding in this park reminded me of some northeast areas at times. Very pretty and varied would be my best description of the landscape. It's some of the least "tropical" landscape I've ridden in Florida to date.
If you are looking for extreme thrills, jumps, technical obstacles and such, this system isn't for you. If you enjoy actual biking, long rides, short rides and seeing some beautiful flora and fauna, you'll have a great time, especially if it's been raining. Raining? Croom track can be notoriously sandy. What does this mean, you ask? Well, when the other more popular Florida trails are slick, underwater and/or closed, Withlacoochee is at its finest. The rain packs down all the sand making for a nice riding surface. In the Florida summer, there is hardly a better place to ride with the exception of maybe Santos or Reddick (Razorback). But neither of those places offer the long, uninterrupted cross country style rides Croom masters.
Withlacoochee is very large, as I previously stated. When I first glanced at a map, the 12-mile Loop looked fairly easy to navigate. But because this was my first time riding this trail, I still grabbed my compass and map. Boy, was I glad I had them. Although simple looking on a map, there are several trails that intersect and crisscross, offering many opportunities to go down a wrong path and end up on the wrong trail. Even though trail signage is good, it is imperative to have a map with you, especially the first few rides.
There are many riding options at the Croom Tract of WSF. In addition to the 12+-mile loop trail, there is also a 32+-mile loop trail as well as the Withlacoochee State Trail (a paved rail-to-trail style trail). There is also a section of the Florida Trail (for hiking) in this State Forest.
There are also bathroom facilities at the Fire Tower Tail head (see the map). The local bike club (SWAMP) has certainly shown their commitment to continued development of this trail system. New trails, reroutes around the sandiest parts and great signage have all been added and work, look and ride great. If a nice long "exploration style" ride fits your style, Croom is certainly for you.
Featured log
01/19/03 - Northern 32-mile loop (blue) from parking lot #1 to 12-mile bail out)
by Dana Farnsworth
I just added another half-point to my rating for Withlacoochee! Previously I've enjoyed mostly the predominately flat and twisty sections of the yellow loop and the southern section of the blue loop. Both these trails are great, but mostly flat. What it lacked in difficulty it made up for in pure enjoyment and scenery. That all just changed. Let me first say that this ride was so enjoyable, Kelli and I completed it twice this weekend!
Starting out at parking lot #1 we made our way up Croom Road to just beyond Nobelton Road, where the blue loop heads into the woods off Croom Road to our right. It was easy to find as it is clearly marked. The trail started out similar to the yellow loop - twisty, flat and fast. The main difference being more whoop-dee-doos. Kelli enjoys whoop-dee-doos, so we were having fun. Around 5 miles into the trail we came upon the first of what would be three signs that indicated two seperate choices of either easy or harder routes. We chose the harder route. This section was a playground of two or three little hills that the trail ran up, down and around. After more very enjoyable riding which included a ride through a small gorge, we came upon another choice. Once again we chose the harder route. This one was similar to the first and even included a neat ride through a small gorge too. I was floored! I thought all of trails at Withlacoochee were fairly flat. I was certainly enjoying this, and it was going to get even better!
Kelli wasn't feeling well as we discussed if we were going to bail-out at the 8 mile or 12 mile marker. We decided to continue on to the 12 mile marker. The next 4 miles turned out to be even better than the previous 8 miles. After the 8 mile bail-out, we were riding along a high ridge with a small lake below. It really looks much more like the northeast here as opposed to Florida. Shortly after that, we found ourselves riding along the edge of the most beautiful sight I think I've seen in Florida. A gorgeous tall green grass field was contained in a small area surrounded by pine and oak trees. It is certainly an incredible sight! I imagined Frodo from "Lord of the Rings" walking along through the head-high grasses.
Next came a short climb and a beautiful descent into a large fern-lined gorge. The descent is technical, but I hardly noticed as I was thrilled with the surroundings. This was turning out to be a very special ride! One last well-marked choice of easier or harder routes was next. I chose the harder, Kelli was a little freaked out from a technical descent immediately following the sign so she chose to ride the easier route after snapping a picture of me going down. This trail section dropped me down along a ridge and then back up with one last drop and rise before both trails converged again. What was left before the 12 mile bail-out is a blast. Lots of little climbs and drops that can be ridden brake-free. I was really enjoying the ups and downs, the twisty turns and the flow of this section. It's punctuated by a long fast drop that made Kelli exclaim "ooooohoohoo"! There is a large root on the rise after the drop to look out for - I did an ender as I misjudged my ability to just "roll up and over it".
We soon came up on the well-marked 12 mile bail-out. At this point, we had three choices to get back to the car. We could ride down dusty Nobelton Road, cross it and ride a secton of singletrack that runs parallel to the road or continue past that to the Withlacoochee State Rail Trail. We rode the not-so-well-maintained single track for a while and the cut over to the rail trail that took us back to our car.
This is an incredible stretch of highly enjoyable intermediate single track. I'm looking forward to riding the rest of the northern blue loop in the future!
Trail Snapshot
Trail(s): Over 45 miles of single track. Surfaces range from flat and smooth to sandy. Level to slight climbs.
Difficulty: Beginner to challenging intermediate.
Outdoor Travels Rating:
3.5 bikes out of 5 bikes. Not too challenging or extreme, but beautiful and expansive! These trails deliver good riding when other trails are flooded and poor (sandy) riding when dry.
Nuts & Bolts
Location: Northeast of Brooksville, Florida
Trails available: 50 miles of beginner - intermediate level single track
Size: 21,639 acres
Info: Withlacoochee State Forest Recreation Center: 15003 Broad Street, Brooksville, Fl 34601. Phone: 352-754-6896. www.fl-dof.com
Directions: I-75 to exit #301, State Road 50. Go one mile east on SR 50 and then make a left onto Croom Rital Road. After around 5 miles you'll find Trailhead #1. Croom Rital Road heads west from here and becomes a gravel road. Trailhead #2 is approximately 2.5 miles from there and another 3 miles will take you to Trailhead #3 at Tucker Hill. Tucker Hill is the main trailhead.
Other: A section of the Florida Trail (for hiking only) passes through here. The Withlacoochee State Trail, a 46-mile paved trail for biking, can be accessed here at several spots. Hunting is permitted in sections of the park from late October through December. Make sure not to ride in restricted areas during this time of year.
Maps and Stuff
Trail Map - off-road trails from swampclub.org
Do you like all the details? Then see who crashed, and what happened on a few select past rides!
Trail Photos
Lots of great photos to give you a good idea of what riding here is like!
12-mile Yellow Loop
32-mile Blue Loop
Yellow, Blue and Red trails
Croom video
Riding through a Florida "gorge" in the North Blue Loop
