Mountain Biking Flatwoods Wilderness Park

My wife and I completed a 6.5 mile ride at Flatwoods Wilderness Park, located in Northeastern Hillsborough County. I've biked this park since middle school, but it's been many years since I was last here. The park has over 30 miles of off-road bicycle single track. The land is owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) and operated as a Conservation Park by Hillsborough County. The bike trails are maintained by the SWAMP Mountain Bike club, which operates and manages several off-road mountain bike trails throughout the Tampa Bay Area. 

The Flatwoods area is a massive flood plain and headwaters of the Hillsborough River. Formally known as the Hillsborough Flood Detention Area (HFDA) In the rainy season, or during hurricanes, SWFWMD controls flow into the Hillsborough River using a flood control structure originally built in the 1960s to protect the cities of Tampa and Temple Terrace from floodwaters. An alternative water flow path, the Tampa Bypass Canal was also constructed during this same time period by dredging portions of Sixmile Creek. Both the bypass canal and the Hillsborough River serve as drinking water sources for the citizens of the Tampa Bay region.

I loaded up the bikes on the truck and we set out just before noon for the thirty-minute drive to the park. The weather was a perfect 68 degrees with full sunshine. I'm riding on an ancient big-box store special K2 sidewinder I've had since high school. It works, it fits me and I have no reason to get a new one. I feel like this hobby is often thought of as requiring expensive bikes and gear but that's simply not true, especially in Florida where the terrain is more of a cross country style than true mountain biking. You can have a cheap or used off road bike and still have a great time on the trails. A cheap bike is also one that you don’t have to worry about. Break a spoke? Get a dent or scratch from a rock or a tree? Oh well, no big deal. 

We parked at the Wilderness Park Mountain Bike Trail parking lot, also known as “hole in the fence” which is located on the South side of Morris Bridge Road just across Interstate 75 in Thonotosassa. This is Main 4 on the Flatwoods Wilderness Park trail map. From there we followed the Main red main trail to "The Ditch" and took the Sinkhole route to the north.

Sinkhole runs past two natural sinkholes alongside the trails. Lots of SWFWMD monitoring wells in the area around these two sinkholes monitoring multiple aquifers at various depths. We stopped for a quick water break and to check out the sinkholes.

Sinkhole loops back and intersects with Grandpa. We took Grandpa past the Main 10 intersection and continued north to its intersection with Washboard, black circle in the picture below:  

We next took Washboard north to where it intersects with Main between 16 and 17. From this point we turned around and headed the opposite direction on Main. We followed Main from 16 to 4 and back to the Hole in the Fence parking lot. I packed the bikes back on the truck and we headed for home. Fantastic way to spend the afternoon, great weather, beautiful scenery, and a fun ride.