This trail segment passes through deep woods, stretches of scrub oak, pine-palmetto flatwoods, beautiful cypress swamp and suburban jewels such as Big Tree Park. There are low areas where typical marshland vegetation prevails.
Leaving Spring Hammock Preserve, the trail follows the berm of General Hutchinson Parkway up to Big Tree Park, a Seminole County park noted for "The Senator," perhaps the largest (17.5 ft. diameter, 138 ft. high) and oldest (3,500 years) cypress tree in the world. Calvin Coolidge dedicated the tree in 1929. The park is open daily from 8-sunset and well worth a stop.
The central portion of this section is on Seminole County 's Rinehart Rd/Crossings bicycle path and Seminole-Wekiva bicycle path. In Lake Mary the trail crosses Interstate 4 on a $3.6 million non-motorized suspension bridge, opened on National Trails Day 2003. This is a very suburban area with many motels, restaurants, and grocery stores-- and no camping.
Once north of SR 46, you return to the woods again at Lower Wekiva Preserve State Park, emerging to cross the wild and scenic Wekiva River on the highway bridge. The trail then enters Seminole State Forest, which is open for hiking as well as canoeing, nature study, fishing, and hunting. It boasts a large black bear population, and provides you with one of your best opportunities along the trail to see one of our shy Florida Black Bears.
Crossing SR 44, the trail continues north through the Royal Trails subdivision, a rural and sparsely populated community, en route to a separate tract of Seminole State Forest. Plans are in the works for a major reroute of this section to the western side of Lake Norris to provide a wilderness corridor. The segment ends at the Clearwater Lake trailhead in the Ocala National Forest, where the first blaze of the Florida Trail was painted in 1966.
The southern end of this section is at the junction of US 17-92 and General Hutchinson Parkway, 0.8 mile south of the SR 419/US 17-92 intersection near Longwood. The northern end is on CR 42 just east of Clearwater Lake Campground in the Ocala National Forest.
Disclaimer: While FTA strives to maintain accurate information and is constantly updating its geodatabase, the trail and development along the trail corridor is constantly changing. The data has been collected from a variety of sources and accuracy varies. FTA provides this data for recreational purposes only and does not intend the data as a survey.
Centerline data Florida Trail System (c) 2007 Florida Trail Association, Inc.
At the northern end, park at the Clearwater Lake Campground trailhead, one-quarter mile north of CR 42. Near the southern end, park at the Longwood Fire Tower. Contact Florida Division of Forestry for an overnight parking permit. Access the Seminole State Forest Loop Trail at two entrances. Parking for the southern entrance is 5.5 miles west of I-4 (Exit 51) on SR 46, and parking for the northern entrance is off SR 44 in Cassia. Pay user fees and observe hunting dates.
Botanical
"The Senator", oldest known cypress tree in the United States in big Tree Park
Campsites
Boy Scout shelter, Blackwater Creek, Shark Tooth Camp
History
Clearwater Lake trailhead in the Ocala National Forest, where the first blaze of the Florida Trail was painted in 1966
The Cassia (pronounced CASH-uh) trail is relatively flat and mostly dry. There is major development in the southern portion with some suburban roadside hiking. Most of the suburban section is on paved bicycle trail.
No fires during drought conditions. Once north of the Wekiva River, protect food from bears.
There is a fee for hiking in the Seminole State Forest. Camping is allowed only in designated primitive sites during non-hunt periods. Current information is available from Florida Division of Forestry, Lake Forestry Station, 9610 CR 44, Leesburg, FL 34788 or call 352-360-6675 or 352-360-6677.
Hiking 
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