Riding Florida's Nature Coast State Trail

Today was a bit warmer than yesterday's unusually cold weather, and started out nearly windless.  We've paddled a lot recently, so we decided to ride our bikes on the nearby Nature Coast State Trail.  

 

The Nature Coast State Trail is a 31.7-mile long segment of Florida's Statewide System of Greenways and Trails System built along abandoned railroad tracks, and designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a National Recreation Trail. It has two primary sections following unused rail lines that were originally built by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

To get to the trailhead, we needed to cross the Suwanee River.  A sign we passed reminded us of its significance.  We would also be pedaling toward it as we continued on the trail.

Riding over the bridge, we paused to look down on a boat that seemed to be "permanently" anchored under it along the shore.  We had seen the boat in our earlier paddle and remarked on it in our blog entry for that paddle.  Seems someone is getting free dockage:

The Suwanee River was calm today with light winds.

We made it to the trailhead and started along our way.  It would be a 14 mile ride with lunch part way through.

It wasn't long before we reached a bridge over a dry creek bed.  This would not be the Old Town Trestle which was a chief object of our ride.

There are still old mile markers along the path from its days as a railroad.

Alongside the trail, the dry Florida plain gave way to sections of swamp and wetland:

After about 4 miles, we reached the Old Town Trestle, which spans a section of the Suwanee River upstream from where we started:

Just below the trestle lies the City of Hawkinsville, a paddle steamer that measured 141 feet long by 35 feet wide, was constructed in Georgia in 1886. It delivered cargo and lumber along the Suwannee River. In an ironic twist, it transported materials for the construction of the railroad bridge across the Suwannee River that we used! Possibly in spite, its captain abandoned the vessel in the middle of the Suwanne Rivier 100 feet downriver from the bridge, because it was no longer profitable. 

Most of of the ship is remarkably intact, and rests on a ledge in the middle of the Suwannee, although due to the river's blackwater, it is not really visible from the surface. The wreck's port side is only three feet under the surface, while its starboard edge is 17 feet lower. It became the third Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve when it opened to the public in 1992. On May 31, 2001, the shipwreck was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.  There are few photos of the wreck underwater, but this is one:

After pausing and reflecting on the wreck, we continued across the trestle.  On the far side, a local restaurant has adapted an old structure as a riverside bar.  Today being Sunday, it was closed:

Another mile-and-a-half along, we stopped for lunch at the Cottage Cafe in Old Town, Florida.  We each had a scrumptious grouper sandwich.  Before long, we set out further along the trail, pedaling another few miles up to our turnaround point.

Bicycling back, retracing our route out, we passed a ranch called the Rio Tinto:

This ranch raises longhorn steers.  One fellow was kind enough to tolerate our curiosity, but eyed us with caution:

That was pretty much it.

Until we were almost back to our campground, when, pedaling along the road, we happened upon a garden monument company.  Some of the workers appeared to be hanging around out back on their lunch break.

But I digress.  

We reached home.

The End.