I Left Collier Seminole, now back to EG Simmons County Park

Map shows the extent of all my rides

After my long kayak trip that I mentioned in my last blog, it was time for some more bicycling. The Blackwater River was really the only place you could paddle in the park, so there was no need to take the kayak off my RV.

In 5 days I biked over 75 miles, trying out every park trail and the nearby wilderness roads in the Picayune Strand State Forest. 

 I did some of the roads multiple times. You could take a state park hiking trail and then access the abandoned paved roads in the state forest. To get from the park to the nearby hiking trails required a 3/4 mi sprint down the bike lane on the Tamiami Trail. Going Northwest there was a wide bike trail to another hiking trail and beyond to a housing development and a huge tomato farm.

Actually, I first discovered this area in 1994 right after the forest took over the land from the developer. They still hadn’t blocked all the roads into the area. You could boondock along the canals for free. After that, they cut off all automotive access to the area and stopped all camping.

This is what Miller Rd looks like, I took a break and sat on a big rock for lunch.

This state forest wilderness was purchased 30 years ago from a scam developer that tried to sell the mostly underwater lots to suckers up north. He put in a few roads and canals and that messed up the environment for water reaching the Everglades. It also messed up the environment for all the wild animals that lived here like Deer, Bears, Panther, Alligators and all sorts of birds. I saw deer & alligators and some wood storks, but the only picture I got was of the two alligators in a tiny park pond along the hiking trail.

However, this week, I’ve seen a lot of heavy equipment working around some of the roads and some power lines being installed. Maybe they will eventually allow some camping in a few places, gosh they have 75,000 acres, it would still be a wilderness.

In all my biking in this area I never passed another biker, Even though every camper seems to bring their bikes, very few ride them out of the campground.

I have no camping reservations for the next 5 days but hope I can get a campsite at either Lithia Springs or EG Simmons County Parks that I stayed in 2 months ago on my way south.

I checked the Alafia River water level and found that because of the drought the river was low and was not paddleable so there was no use of trying for a campsite at Lithia Springs.

I left at 8:30 am on Wednesday morning and headed for EG Simmons County Park on Tampa Bay. Since traffic was light in the morning I stayed on I-75 all the way and I got there at 11:30 am. Of course it was full with 6 names already on the waiting list for campers leaving today. I decided to wait and when the last site was assigned they said I could stay in a non-power site and that I would be first on the waiting list on Thursday. That will save me going to a nearby Walmart and driving back at 7 am.

While I was getting set-up I turned on my water pump and found that it had quit working. I called a nearby mobile RV repair and they said they could replace it for $400. What the F$$$?  Too much. I ordered a new pump from Amazon for only $80 and it should get here by Friday. I found that the non-power site still had a water connection so no pump was no problem, but I need to replace the pump for when I’m on the road. 

I found it not that hard to remove.  When my new pump comes on Friday it should not be too hard to install. It will give me something to do and keep busy.

UPDATE – Pump arrived Friday at 12:30pm, all installed and everything back together at 1:30pm. All working again.

It has been so hot here. Every day in February except two were in the 80’s. I need to paddle or bike early in the day while it’s still cool. I will be here through the weekend and then will head back to Silver Lake near Brooksville on the Withlacoochee River and 46 mile long paved bike trail.