Alafia River Corridor Nature Preserve - North

If you want to be consumed by nature then the entrance trail is tight and winding. By the time you start feeling claustrophobic, the trail opens onto a tidy, dirt service road. As you continue your trek you'll notice that nature is starting to surround the dirt road in grand fashion. From there you'll reach a scenic field and now you have to make a choice of which way to go (I recommend going right). Adventure awaits and I'm ashamed that I hadn't discovered this spot sooner.

Beautiful 8 mile walk, mostly in the woods. Used Alltrails map which was different and longer than the map at the trailhead. The route is not clearly marked in places and there are many side trails intersecting the main trail. But no real problem.

This is a really cool hiking area. A groundskeeper there, Billy, was kind enough to stop and speak with us about the place. His knowledge and understanding of the land and its history is invaluable. The hike itself has some elevation for Florida which is nice. Theres wildlife and it's very peaceful. Trail starts out as overgrown and narrow through the woods. Then it widens up for a while. Then you're across the river and then up the hills. Really enjoyed this park. There are no bathrooms though unless you go to aldermans Ford next door but you'll have to pay $2 since it's a Hillsborough county park. Only thing I'm not sure about is total length of the trail since I didn't complete all the sections of trail. Othe reviews are saying 9 miles but we only walked 6mi. Also the parking area states it's only for Aldermans Ford but it's clearly the only place to park.

The 9.9-mile North Loop Trail is one of my favorites, along with Circle B Preserve and Black Bear Wilderness. I love that it's completely shaded, and a good section of the trail runs along the river, which looks great for kayaking. The trees are amazing, each with so much character—some remind me of people’s facial expressions, as though they've lived different lives, some easy, some full of hardship. Located near Plant City, FL, the trail is generally considered easy. It starts as a single track through a dense forest and is marked as Trail #2, which eventually opens up to an old sand road. Various trails are numbered for easy navigation. I visited in July during the wet season, so several sections were flooded, requiring a bit of wading.

Overall, a hidden gem. I grew up around here and didn't even realize they opened up more land to hike for a year (which might be a good thing because sadly more people means litter and disrespect to Nature). However, my mom and I got a little turned around despite being very familiar with this area because of an issue with a trail that is not on the map. I didn't see any other reviews mentioning this but I cross checked my google map tracking with the trail map and we cut through the red trail (despite not going off trail). Maybe we were tired or thirsty but it's rare we would both find ourselves turned around. Other than that, this is an amazing place to hike. We saw about 5 gopher tortoises (and many more of their holes which is important), a cottontail rabbit, birds, butterflies, bitter oranges, swamps, meadows, train tracks, a lake, so many wildflowers, and hardly any people once on the trail (though when we parked there were 10 cars already there). There is plenty of room to breathe and take the whole day to explore. The terrain is varied and there is some elevation which is a nice change from the usual here in Florida. Please respect this place and all other parks!!! Will definitely be going back regularly.