A Biker's Trail Blog and more ...

Jacksonville-Baldwin bike trail offers some seclusion from the cacophony and busy lifestyle of Jacksonville metropolis. It is a 14.5 miles long paved bike trail which is a great fun to ride on. This trail, has almost no gradient and with its completely flat topography, makes an ideal biking trail for casual biker and is also an ideal trail for doing speed testing, well ... almost ideal!

One of the biggest annoyance are numerous stop signs that dot this otherwise cool trail. At one bend in the road, it felt as if the transportation department ran out of road signs to plant Other than this, the trail itself is very well maintained with its many turns and Jacksonville seaside climate (read breezy) makes biking a pleasant experience year around. The trail has a few parks and recreation points along its length. There are a few wooden bridges that gives this trail somewhat rustic feel to it. One thing which was a slight let-down was the fact that you are never away from civilization at any point, but that is expected in a huge city like Jacksonville. The trail has ample parking space at both ends of the trail, but the Baldwin trailhead seemed to me a bit deserted and less used than the Jacksonville trailhead. Personally I would feel a lot more comfortable parking my car at the busy jacksonville trailhead.

I have heard from many bikers that the trees along this trail gives a sort of tunnel effect that adds to the overall biking experience. But on both of my rides, I failed to experience it. Maybe it was because I went at the time of year when most of the trees had shed their autumn leaves. Maybe I should go bike during spring and summer time next. But I must agree, the trail is covered by trees along most of its length. There are a few rivulets along the trail as well. Jacksonville area energy and utility company's infrastructure lies at many places and that I must say did not add at all the overall aesthetics of the trail Also at many places I found out that many stop signs had lots of bullet holes in them and it made me wonder what must have happened there. What did those inanimate traffic control devices do to deserve that fate?

Somewhere between mile 13 and 14, there is historic Baldwin railway station still standing tall and proud. The city has developed a small park around that architecture and I was surprised to find even a small skate-board practice circuit where you can take your kids to practice while you enjoy a nice time in the park nearby. Since I have this bad habit of comparing every trail with Gainesville-Hawthorne bike trail in terms of variety and wildlife along a trail, I was disappointed to find very few wildlife along the trail. But I did see two dwarf cows grazing in one of the nearby farms, but I would hardly call those wild We did see many bikers using this trail but I have serious concern regarding safety after sunset.

I would rate this trail a healthy 6 on the scale of 10. If you are a casual bike rider and want to go on a trail with kids, I would definitely recommend this trail. Here is google map location to Jacksonville trailhead.