The Nature Coast State Trail provides an excellent opportunity to experience the Sunshine State's Natural North Florida. In the early 1900s, trains were replacing the steamship as the freight and passenger carrier throughout the Suwannee River Valley. Today, visitors can retrace this historic route of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, traversing 32 miles of Florida's beautiful Nature Coast region. Officially part of Florida's Greenways and Trails System, this state trail has also been designated as a National Recreation Trail®. It consists of two primary alignments built along abandoned rail lines that intersect at Wilcox Junction, connecting the communities of Cross City, Trenton, Fanning Springs and Chiefland. As funding becomes available, the trail will extend approximately nine miles east from Trenton toward Newberry. Among the trail's highlights is the Historic Suwannee River Railroad Bridge which is east of the Old Town Trailhead. The trail is near Fanning Springs and Manatee Springs state parks and Andrews Wildlife Management Area. An equestrian trail parallels 4.5 miles of the paved trail from Old Town to Fanning Springs.
