It was cold at Magnolia Springs, 30’s in the morning but
sunny and high 50’s by the afternoon. but I did get a short 6 mi bike ride on their trails.
The trails were hard packed and were free of branches. The trail went around
the lake and past lots of empty cabins. The trail was scenic and free of hikers
at this time of year.
I left on Saturday morning and drove 5 hours from Ga to East
of Tampa. After some grocery shopping I stayed overnight at a another Lowes
parking lot in Valrico, FL, since it is only 20 minutes away from Lithia
Springs. I love this park and have been coming here for years since they don’t
take reservations and if you get here early when the gate opens you can usually
find a campsite. I got campsite #38 across from the riverside campsites which
were all full.
I usually camp here over Christmas time, and was not planning
on coming here this year until late February.
My plans were to stay in Northern
FL in the Osceola National Forest and then drive over to the Withlacoochee State
Forest in December. Since the National Forest was closed due to Hurricane
Helene, I headed 60 miles south of the Withlacoochee, where I have reservations
for first two weeks in December.
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| Sandhill Cranes on Fishhawk’s bike trail |
ride. It is on the Alafia River, which is very wild and scenic. I’m not sure
what I’ll run into this year since the storm and flood may have blocked the
river with large trees. But I’ll try exploring the river later this week. The biking
is mostly on miles of concrete sidewalks that run through the natural forested
areas and small lakes in the large housing development called Fishhawk Ranch.