The Swamp mountain biking for all levels near Tampa Bay

The Swamp Club mountain biking takes you up 200 feet hills and drops outside Tampa Bay If you think that Florida is just flat and there is no extreme mountain biking, guess again! Not only that but imagine biking in certain swamp areas that are so well hidden that often you run into large alligators before you run into another human. The drops and views of iridescent green lakes (from an intense algae and moss growth) are like some place out of the USA. Don’t be surprised if a moss-covered log starts to swim. (You guessed it … a large gator).

For those who aren’t as hard core, there are many miles of trails and parks that are just right for any level and you can avoid wildlife if you wish. Right outside of the Tampa Bay area hides the most extensive inventory of mountain bike single tracks in the entire state of Florida. This is mountain biking Florida style.

I wouldn’t believe all this if I hadn’t experienced it for myself as my husband helped build some trails in the Balm Boyette Scrub Preserve Mountain Bike Trail with his excavator. There are trails for the beginner (that would be me!) all the way to advanced (I hike these trails, not bike them). Your stomach floats up to your chest as you climb, climb, climb then go down, down, down. But just in time when you think that you’re going to die, the stomach sets back in place next to the intestines and your heart rate slows down. It’s sort of like riding one of those not-so-extreme roller coaster rides but more than your kiddie ride. These dips and valleys are compliments of all the years of mining (yep, it was an old mine) and the too-big-for-certain-tight-spots excavator that my daring husband used.

The Tampa area has perhaps the most extensive inventory of mountain bike single-track in the state of Florida. Croom, clocking in at nearly 60 miles, is the largest park that they maintain. Wilderness Park has close to 30 miles, Balm Boyette Scrub Preserve trail has 25 miles of single-track and 10 miles of two-track that has become single-track with usage. The Alafia River State Park Trail is The Swamp’s most technical trail system with about 22 miles of single track. SWAMP has road/off road bicycle maps for each of these trail systems.

Learn about The Swamp Mountain Biking Club’s history. Then explore mountain biking Tampa Bay style for yet another surprising “what to do when in Tampa”!

Prepare that bike ride with the right gear: