25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Like the title says, this is the OFFICIAL guide., August 3, 2001
This review is from: Rails-to-Trails Florida (Paperback)
Rails-to-trail are trails created from abdondoned railroad beds. They are valued for a number of activities because of their shallow grades that were required by trains. The Rails-to-Trail Conservancy is the US national organization promoting the creation of Rails-to-Trails, and Rails-to-Trails Florida is their official guidebook.
The book describes 17 "top" rails-trails, 6 "more" rail-trails (ones so new that more detail could not be included) and 11 state park trails across the state, each in its own section. There is also a section on the Florida trail system. The state park trails are mostly unpaved trails for mountain bikers and equestrians, and are not rail bed conversions. The author warns that they may be excluded in future printings as more rail-trails are finished.
The author is obviously a cyclist, but the information in the book applied to runners, walkers, equestrians, skaters and those in wheelchairs.
There are maps of the state in the front, and each trail is described on two or more pages, with a local map, usually at least one photo, icons indicating activites on and along the trail, a summary description, and a long description giving a mile-by-mile account of the trail and a history of the railroad that preceded it.
The state maps don't include the "more" trails, and could use more detail, such as county boundaries and major roads.
Although the author suggests getting more detailed maps, there is no reason that more detail couldn't be included in the trail maps, such as more roads, particularly those leading to intermediate stations. I'd like to drive to one of the intermediate stations along the West Orange Trail, for example. There are some other detail problems. If you look for SR 419 while on SR 417, you'll never find it as the highway signs only refer to it as 434, but the book doesn't tell you that. The author also implies that the beginning of the Cady Way Trail begins in the parking lot of Fashion Square mall when it is, in fact, across a street.
New trails are being opened, and new rights-of-way procured for trails, in Florida almost daily, it seems. To remain useful, this book will have to be updated almost annually. I hope it keeps up-to-date.
A similar resource are the three volumes of Florida Rail-Trail Bicycling by Joan Lundquist Scalpone, describing 46, 44, and 43 rides, respectively. The three books cover municipal trails and bike routes, and park trails as well as rail-trails, but the three books will cost more than Rails-to-Trails Florida and only cover about 15 of the Rail-Trails.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
nice individual maps, March 27, 2006
This review is from: Rails-to-Trails Florida (Paperback)
The individual maps are very nice. There is no list of bike rental places with their phone #s. No map of Florida to show where the trails are. Descriptions of trails are OK. Shark Valley in the Everglades was not mentioned in the "non-rail-trail" section.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Handy Guide to Trails, July 18, 2001
This review is from: Rails-to-Trails Florida (Paperback)
This book is a thin paperback that is perfect to carry along on a trip. It's a good guide to the Rails-to-Trails system in Florida, although the descriptions of the trails are not as detailed as in some other books. There are easy to use icons listing what facilities are available at each site, and overall descriptions of the trails with some details about points of interest.
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