_____________________________________________________________________________________
South Florida has a plethora of really good off road cycling trails.
Last week while in the local bike shop I saw a sign for the Hungryland Back 40.
This should be an interesting race. I have run this trail a number of times and it really is the back 40.
You can look into registering here
http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=2093652
The race is sponsered by Valor Cycle Club and proceeds support Busch Wildlife Sanctuary http://buschwildlife.org/.
The course:
I am not quite certain what they will use as the Official Course but this is the trail as I know it. The trail officially starts in the Cypress Creek Natural Area at the intersection of Indiantown Road and Gulfstream Road. There is limited parking at this location for that reason I always park at Riverbend and ride over to the trail (its only a mile and all hard surface paved). From the trail head the first two miles are packed shell rock. That is the end of Phase 1 construction.
http://www.pbcgov.com/erm/nena/historic-jupiter-indiantown-trail/index.htm
The trail then transitions to a live active road used primarily as local traffic. Its about 1 mile long.
Once you get out of the residential area you are now Officially in the John C. and Mariana Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area. The first 3/4 of a mile is easy traveling its still hard packed surface basically roadway. Well you may have to negotiate a few obstacles.
From this point forward though the trail is still hard packed surface but it gets wilder, rougher and with the current weather conditions slightly wetter. On a windy day beware of falling trees!
The trail ends abruptly (see orange line) and if you look closely you will see the roadway off to the right slightly. Its so overgrown the only way to see the road surface is to look under the brush. This should be the start of Phase II construction. To my thinking they only need to clear the trail of the overgrowth and then you could ride it the whole way to Indiantown.
The End!
This should be a fun days outing remember to bring water lots of it. Cell phones may not have coverage I have noticed Sprint does not in certain sections of the trail.
Take time to look around you or plan on coming back again to see what you may have missed.
A little history on the road...
The Historic Jupiter to Indiantown Rd was the primary connection between the two locations for around 50 years. In 1899 the road was cut by Dade County which governed the area at the time. Local citrus growers from Indiantown ran a trading post. In the early days to reach the trading post it took two days by oxcart to travel the 16 miles of road. Later mules were used to haul in shell rock to improve the road. The Road was colsed in the late 50s when other roads like Bee Line Highway were built. Today some parts of the road are much like they were 100 years ago. In 1993 the road was declared a Scenic By-Way by Martin and Palm Beach Counties.
Enjoy the race and stay safe on the trails!
South Florida has a plethora of really good off road cycling trails.
Last week while in the local bike shop I saw a sign for the Hungryland Back 40.
This should be an interesting race. I have run this trail a number of times and it really is the back 40.
You can look into registering here
http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=2093652
The race is sponsered by Valor Cycle Club and proceeds support Busch Wildlife Sanctuary http://buschwildlife.org/.
The course:
I am not quite certain what they will use as the Official Course but this is the trail as I know it. The trail officially starts in the Cypress Creek Natural Area at the intersection of Indiantown Road and Gulfstream Road. There is limited parking at this location for that reason I always park at Riverbend and ride over to the trail (its only a mile and all hard surface paved). From the trail head the first two miles are packed shell rock. That is the end of Phase 1 construction.
http://www.pbcgov.com/erm/nena/historic-jupiter-indiantown-trail/index.htm
The trail then transitions to a live active road used primarily as local traffic. Its about 1 mile long.
Once you get out of the residential area you are now Officially in the John C. and Mariana Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area. The first 3/4 of a mile is easy traveling its still hard packed surface basically roadway. Well you may have to negotiate a few obstacles.
From this point forward though the trail is still hard packed surface but it gets wilder, rougher and with the current weather conditions slightly wetter. On a windy day beware of falling trees!
The trail ends abruptly (see orange line) and if you look closely you will see the roadway off to the right slightly. Its so overgrown the only way to see the road surface is to look under the brush. This should be the start of Phase II construction. To my thinking they only need to clear the trail of the overgrowth and then you could ride it the whole way to Indiantown.
The End!
This should be a fun days outing remember to bring water lots of it. Cell phones may not have coverage I have noticed Sprint does not in certain sections of the trail.
Take time to look around you or plan on coming back again to see what you may have missed.
A little history on the road...
The Historic Jupiter to Indiantown Rd was the primary connection between the two locations for around 50 years. In 1899 the road was cut by Dade County which governed the area at the time. Local citrus growers from Indiantown ran a trading post. In the early days to reach the trading post it took two days by oxcart to travel the 16 miles of road. Later mules were used to haul in shell rock to improve the road. The Road was colsed in the late 50s when other roads like Bee Line Highway were built. Today some parts of the road are much like they were 100 years ago. In 1993 the road was declared a Scenic By-Way by Martin and Palm Beach Counties.
Enjoy the race and stay safe on the trails!