Starting to plan A big section hike starting in citrus.....

[left52side]

Was thinking about A three section hike starting at the citrus loop and continuing on to ocala north then taking the florida trail section of the cross florida greenway and ending at the barge canal on us hwy 19 in inglis florida.
If anyone has any info on any road walks etc please chime in.
Also if anyone is interested in this hike please feel free to let me know.

[Engine]

When are you thinking about doing it? I'm very familiar with the roads up this way, but I don't have FT maps to see where it's routed.

[left52side]

When are you thinking about doing it? I'm very familiar with the roads up this way, but I don't have FT maps to see where it's routed.

Hi engine .
I am thinking most likely January sometime.
Will continue to do my overnighters here in citrus section and etc.
But would like to know if the citrus section connects to ocala after croom,I would like to start here at say houlder mine or south of there at stage coach rd and hike through to ocala then connect with the cross florida greenway and come out at inglis at the barge canal.

[Engine]

From what I understand, the Withlacoochee State Trail is the connector from down that way up to Dunnellon, then you hop on the Dunnellon trail for a short 2.5 miles. The Dunnellon trail ends and you are back in the Marjorie Harris Carr greenway on some (from my experience) poorly maintained trails and occasional lime rock roads all the way into Ocala.

So, there has to be a road walk (unsure of the "official" route) to get from the Citrus tract to the WST, and it is effectively a road walk as well since it's paved all the way. At the northern terminus of the WST you have a short road walk of about 1 mile to the Dunnellon trail, which is also paved, but a really nice walk along the Withlacoochee and Rainbow rivers. After that, as far as I know, it's trail following the old barge canal route and along some of the old diggings all the way into Ocala.

As for getting to Inglis, you would be backtracking from Ocala since the route from Dunnellon uses the greenway, but I have no idea how to get from Dunnellon to Inglis without extensive road walking along HWY 40 (not much shoulder and fast traffic at times). The greenway effectively has a very large gap until you get almost into Inglis.

[left52side]

From what I understand, the Withlacoochee State Trail is the connector from down that way up to Dunnellon, then you hop on the Dunnellon trail for a short 2.5 miles. The Dunnellon trail ends and you are back in the Marjorie Harris Carr greenway on some (from my experience) poorly maintained trails and occasional lime rock roads all the way into Ocala.

So, there has to be a road walk (unsure of the "official" route) to get from the Citrus tract to the WST, and it is effectively a road walk as well since it's paved all the way. At the northern terminus of the WST you have a short road walk of about 1 mile to the Dunnellon trail, which is also paved, but a really nice walk along the Withlacoochee and Rainbow rivers. After that, as far as I know, it's trail following the old barge canal route and along some of the old diggings all the way into Ocala.

As for getting to Inglis, you would be backtracking from Ocala since the route from Dunnellon uses the greenway, but I have no idea how to get from Dunnellon to Inglis without extensive road walking along HWY 40 (not much shoulder and fast traffic at times). The greenway effectively has a very large gap until you get almost into Inglis.

Awesome thanks for the information.
I ordered A few maps for that section and will check it out later.
I am not that far Might just start in north ocala and hike to the citrus tract

[MtDoraDave]

Not much help, but I have been on the FT from Juniper Springs north about 12 miles; it continues up towards Palatka. I have also hiked south from Juniper Springs; it crosses 40 about a mile east of Juniper and continues SE and and crosses 19 heading towards Alexander Springs... I was able to track it using Google Maps.

Last weekend, on my way home from Gainesville, I saw a FT sign on 40 closer to the Forrest corners area... so the trail is here and there, not a loop or a continuous point A to point B situation.