2019 Jim Schmid bicycles 27-mile Palatka-to-Lake Butler State Trail – FL

Link to trail sign photos taken by Jim Schmid while biking the Palatka-to-Lake Butler State Trail, FL on December 3, 2019.

I love returning to Florida in the winter. Yesterday I biked the  Palatka to St. Augustine State Trail. I spent the night in Palatka and was ready to bike the Palatka-to-Lake Butler State Trail early, but the weather wasn’t cooperating. It was 32 degrees at 7:30 am. I biked a few miles but just wasn’t prepared for the cold so got back to my van and warmed up. At 9 am it was in the low 40s which I can handle. Didn’t take long to get into the 50s. This ended up being a 54 mile day as I biked out and back. I had biked this paved portion and also the dirt portion of trail back when we lived in Florida and I was administrator for the Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST).  The FNST uses a portion of the Trail. Back then I was biking and walking every mile of the FNST which I finished in January 2014. A few days later I retired from the US Forest Service.

map-Palatka-Lake-Butler-Trail-FL-12-4-19