Alafia River State Park

Great campground quiet and peaceful. Amazing mountain biking trails and hiking trails and they also have equestrian trails and camping (they have a horse paddocks. The mountain biking trails go from easy to extremely experienced. They have quarter pipes and jumps in several places in the woods. Spike enjoyed hiking and seeing a lot of bunnies, and deer. And a couple of armadillo. We will definitely be back. I almost forgot about the 7 or 8 bald eagle nests that all looked occupied.

I was here for hiking. It was great, altho POORLY marked for hikers. Had to rely on my 6th sense to get back to the parking area. I will say this: for mountain biking, this place would be AWESOME! Must be several hundred miles of trails. I'll be back for sure.

Amazing for mountain biking...but we were hiking. Terrain is very cool - shady, hilly, narrow trails very different from most flat trails of FL. Many mountain biking trails that we could not walk on and many maps of only the bike trails. Only 1 or 2 cool trails (mainly just old agrico) for hiking and they definitely need more signage, mileage on maps, even just showing "you are here" on the few posted maps. So, a little hard to navigate. Plus, the ranger station was not open to ask anyone. That said, the park is beautiful and was empty on the Monday morning we went. We had a lovely hike with our dogs! AllTrails app was very helpful.

First time camping here. Not a large campground. Sites are decent size. Not a lot of privacy if that’s your thing. Pull sites are on the inner part of the loops with sites facing inside. So the pull through do provide a little more. This is a very busy park at the bike course areas. Bike trails ranging from easy turtle flat smooth to double diamond drops and jumps. Being on the turtle side of the spectrum, it was a pleasant change from the average park doing some trail riding.

All three of these lakeland parks are really the best trails in Florida from my experience. Loyce Harpe, Alafia, and Balm Boyette are all phenomenal parks with beautiful and fun trails. This one in particular is especially fun for people who like jumping their bikes. Lost Meadow is one of the very few true flow trails we have in central Florida. The only other one I can think of is Indigo Flow up at Santos in Ocala. Intermediate riders will have a great time on North Creek and Rollercoaster. Beginners can have a blast with Hidden Rivers and Rock Garden. Experienced riders can show off their skills on huge tabletop jumps in Lost Meadow. Tech trail enthusiasts aren’t left behind either with Frankenstairs and Garden Ridge. And, when everyone starts getting tired, there’s a nice selection of craft beer at the newly rebuilt bike shop next to the parking lot. Very handy when you’re trying to get group rides going and peoples’ bikes start falling apart. There is truly something here for everyone.