Hillsborough River State Park

Hillsborough River State Park is very beautiful andwild. It is very jungle like once you get onto the trails on the north side ofthe river. Visibility is quite limited because of the vegetation, which is verydiverse including palmetto, pine, oak, sable palms and a variety of shrubberyand vines. The park does not allow swimming in the river because of alligators,but a public swimming pool is provided (an additional admission fee is chargedfor not campers). The park also rents canoes for getting out on the river.

A word of warning: In July, the mosquitoes are FEROCIOUS and will SWARM youeven with insect repellent (I used a biorganic repellent, I think it workedwell for the concentration of mosquitoes. Pure DEET may be better). We also hada few biting flies. Again, the mosquitoes are so thick you run into them whilewalking, several will light on you hand while taking pictures, and you feellike you cannot stop walking or you will be devoured.

This hike included two separate trails in the park, both of which are on thenorth side of the river. The first trail was the Maynard trail, which is listedas 1.1 miles long. The trail is broken up into 4 sections by 4 numbered postswith emergency information on them. I have included waypoints for all 4 postsalong the trail. I hiked the trail backwards starting from Parking Lot #3. Thistrail really begins at the south end to the suspension bridge, but you walk throughthe extensive picnicking area (which includes a playground, volleyball courtsand many covered pavilions) before reaching the bridge. The trail then runsbriefly along the river, where we saw a camouflaged gator hiding in anobstruction in the river (see pic). The trail soon turns and heads back alongthe northern border of the park. The back part of the trail has some wet,marshy areas that require elevated platforms. Unfortunately, in July there arevery wet areas of the trail that have a few inches of standing water and cannotbe navigated around without wet shoes. Waterproof boots are recommended.The trail ends at the stationary bridge, which is about 0.2 river miles west ofthe suspension bridge. To close the loop for the Maynard Trail you can makeyour way along well worn paths on either the north or south side of the riverback to the suspension bridge, but I did not chart these paths. The elapsedtime from the trailhead to the south end of the stationary bridge was 41 minwith no significant elevation changes.

The second trail in this trip is the longest in the park. It is called theFlorida Trail because it was created and maintained with the help of theSuncoast Chapter of the Florida Trail Association. This trail is accessed fromParking Lot #4, near the Spirit of the Woods Poolside Cafe. To access thetrail, make your way through the picnic area to the south end of the stationarybridge. Across the bridge and up the path less than 100 yards is a trailheadmap for the Florida and Maynardtrails. Follow the spur to the left to start the Floridatrail. I have included waypoints for all 14 marker posts along the trail,although I am not confident of my waypoint for #13. The trail begins along theriver for approximately 1.25 miles. Be sure to listen for as well as watch forgators along this path. We heard one splash into the water as we rounded acorner. About halfway around the loop the trail turns inward and passes throughsome areas with ponds or swamps. Like the Maynard Trail, the inland portion hassome wet, marshy areas that require elevated platforms. Unfortunately, in Julythere are many very wet areas of the trail that have a few inches of standingwater and cannot be navigated around without wet shoes. Waterproof boots arerecommended, possibly hip waders, be warned. 2.2 miles along the trail (beginningat the ‘Y’) next to trail marker post #10 is the spur for the primitivecampsite. I didn’t go down it as it was flooded, but the map indicates it isonly 0.1 miles off the loop trail. One more mile of trail brings you back tothe ‘Y’ to finish the loop. The elapsed time from the stationary bridge aroundthe Florida Trail loop and back to the bridge was almost exactly 2 hours, evenwith the slow navigating through the swamps. There were minimal elevationchanges of less that 5 ft on a couple occasions.

We did see quite a bit of wildlife in the park. We saw 2 gators (1 approx. 4ftand 1 approx. 7ft), one of whom was swimming. We got a great view of a deerlooking at us out of the woods, an encounter that lasted over a minute beforehe walked off into the woods. We also saw a lot of Golden Orb spiders, manysquirrels and some cool trees. Just before driving out the entrance we also sawa 4ft corn snake, which allowed us to come within a few ft of him.

Despite the mosquitoes and mud bogging, the trail is quite enjoyable and verybeautiful. My 10 year old son especially liked the wading through the muck,probably because his boots kept out the water. The whole trip around bothtrails took less than 3 hrs and was an easy hike that was well tolerated by allhikers. The River Rapids Nature Trail, which is listed as 1.2 miles, can beadded on to these for approximately 30 as it covers the area near the parkingand provides view of the rapids, which are not much, but worth seeing.