Bullfrog Creek Wildlife & Environmental Area

There was only one other car when we visited mid-day. It's a nice walk on a good path/road with most of it shaded. Our dog enjoyed the place.

One of my favorite hidden gems. I love coming here with my dog to enjoy the peaceful, beautiful scenery. Recently I’ve noticed quite a few trees being taken down and tractors, which has affected some of the views. I really hope this place stays protected. Make sure to bring extra water, and please pick up after yourself so we can all keep it enjoyable.

Just simply amazing. It's a beautiful, very wild place to walk and peaceful, even if it's smack in the middle of Belmont and 75 Trails are routes for the rangers vehicles and they are a mixture of crushed rock, dirt and what seems like white sand but seems more like ash as you emerge the covered parts of the trail. It's very peaceful and more than enough trail to get your nature fix. I love that this exists and is such a well executed area that manages a wild preserve and modern development both at the same time. Getting to the trail on the drive up can be tricky with driving trail as it's one car at a time and the tall grass in the center of the dirt road seem unnatural to traverse. But keep a consistent speed and your car will be fine 😄 A special thank you to the kind soul who waited for me to finish the drive up before they set out. ✌️ places like this work when we all work together, plus when we leave nature to itself. I saw many interesting insects, deer and black racers. Wonderful experience and closer than we think to visit. 😃 I personally love the mixture of all the plants and trees as well. It's neat (for me) to experience the tall pine in these parts with the hand size cones and the fields of palm. Thank you to the men and women who make this area happen. 👍 Edit: two years later. Trails are no longer being maintained. Hiker discretion is advised. Some trails are nothing but tall bahia grass that the ranger drives on. Its easy to get lost here now and you could step on a snake or some else in the tall grass or easily twist an ankle in a rut due to the tall grass and conditions of the other unmaintained trails. Just reporting. No judgement. Some people like the rustic rawness of some trails. This isnt a nice easy stroll through nature anymore. But its still absolutely beautiful. Just be advised this place isnt what it was two years ago if youve been here. I ended up hopping a fence and walking 4 miles north on 301 back to my car because no trail existed that could take me back to the beginning of this park. The drive up to the "parking" area at the start of the trail has a center of two ruts thats become quite tall and some vehicles might bottom out here. I ended up straddeling a single rut up the "road". Because of this ive lowered my five star to 3.

Entrance far down a two track road that might cause trouble for low clearance cars. Trails were in good condition in mid september. Not well marked but trail map is good. Don't cross the small stream on the southeast perimiter!

Visited the Bullfrog Creek Wildlife and Environmental area for the first time today. The trail is very wide and easy to follow even though there are no trail markers. I recommend bringing a water bottle, bug spray, and sun screen as there are large areas with minimal tree coverage. The trail was a bit over grown in some areas, specifically the route I wanted to take along bull frog creek (I highlighted the overgrown area on the attached map). So I walked one of the other routes. I did not encounter any of the tilled sand that others mentioned. I believe it’s because the rain, elements, and grass had helped to compact this soil. The trail is primarily sand with varying compactness, but nothing too soft. There are also large portions of trail that have been covered in rocks. I recommend some thick soled shoes or shoes with a rock plate because of that. The trail portion parallel to Paseo Al Mar is about 1.56km (just under a mile). I wanted to hike the larger loop, but because of overgrown areas I had to modify my route. However my total distance traveled was about 5.56km. So if you’re able to hike the trail when it’s not over grown, expect about 5-6 miles of trail. I did not bring my dogs this time as I wanted to check it out myself first. If you bring furry friends keep them on a leash. There are areas with still water, hog poop, and I saw an armadillo carcass. Also, if you’ve hiked other trails in central Florida and Hillsborough county, you probably know coral snakes exist. That’s why leashed pets are happy pets and you avoid, at best, a smelly car ride home, and at worst, expensive vet bills. (27.7610258, -82.3352541) Coordinates to entrance on 301. Once you enter it’s about a mile drive on a single lane dirt road to the parking and trail entrance. However, there is enough room for a car to pull to the side and give another right of way if there are two cars on the access road at the same time. Finally, the reason I gave 4 stars is because I was not able to travel the full trail due to over grown areas. However, it is a very nice trail and it’s great for seeing hawks. I visited the trail mid July around noon. So it was hot, but still enjoyable if you’re a Florida native like myself. Other wise probably best to visit early morning or later afternoon when the sun isn’t directly overhead.