Very nice trail! Plenty of parking lots along the trail. The trail is a mixture of shade and sun,…read morewhich was nice. There were a few water refill stations, but I didn't check if they had water. The trail round trip was I believe 14-15 miles if my watch tracked right.

This is a good starter walking path. I liked all the trees for the shade. It has good paved walking…read morepaths. I saw a few bunnies, turtles and squirrels. Nice facility of restrooms.

Nice trails. All were clear and there was no standing water when we went. The trail markers were…read moreconfusing to me so we got turned around a bit following the blue trail. Ended up backtracking and just doing the red trail and leaving so only got a few miles in. It does connect to the upper Tampa Bay trail so there were a lot of people out in that area when we got off of the blue trail. Some of the trails were shaded, lots of different terrain to walk through. Would definitely recommend going early to beat the heat and the crowd. The parking area was small but there were not a lot of cars when we were there.

I do not like giving less than five stars for free recreation but this place should be left off of…read moresome lists to visit. The benefits of this preserve is you are able to get in 4-5 miles of biking, running and walking. They also allow dogs however I did not see any bags to dispose of their waste and there were quite a few piles when I was there. Parking spots are scarce on the entrance I went to. It was also quite muddy in places and this is without any rain for a while so during the summer I can imagine paths are not passable in places. I also had to cross two streams that had homemade bridges of twigs. So you need great balance and a stick to not get your shoes soaked. Trail signs are also problematic in places.

My first time on the trail. Rode my bike several miles on the west end from East Lake Oaks…read moresubdivision. LOVED IT! Will be going further east in a day or so. Beautiful trail, lots of shade, bridges, and wide in most parts to pass walkers, etc.

This is a great trail to ride and explore from park to park. There is definitely some work to do as…read morefar as signage for this trail, but hopefully the map I posted helps people navigate it. There are various parks where you can access it. And the trail includes paved, wooden bridge, crushed shell \ gravel and on-road sections. I rode from Bicentennial Park to Mobbly Beach Park. There is a short dead end offshoot by the water body but if you go back to the right and around the back you go over some bridges and are eventually dumped on Dunkirk (a trail map is posted here which is helpful but there is no street sign). Go right, you're on Dunkirk. Then go left on Country Club. You will see a connection back to the next section of trail on your left. This was my favorite part. In late May there were beautiful wildflowers and natural vistas. There are also signs about different plants and animals spaced along the trail as well as workout stations. It ends at Mobbly Beach Park which is gorgeous and a nice place to swim except late in summer when it gets a bit algaefied. Looking forward to exploring the rest of the trail. See you out there.

Lake Dan Preserve is a cool enough place to spend a bit of time. It gives us a glimpse of untamed…read moreFlorida and reminds us that before tourism and theme parks forever changed the landscape of the Sunshine State, Florida was wild and untamed. I enjoy seeking out these places when I am traveling for business. It is great to find these hidden gems. One of the great things about traveling for work are these discoveries. I seek them out and am better for finding them. I encourage you to check this place out and seek out these hidden gems whether in your travels or even right there in your community.

Lake Dan Preserve is hidden in the back of a neighborhood with no signs on Tarpon Springs Rd…read moreindicating it's existence. If I lived nearby I'd keep it that way because this Hillsborough county park was an unexpected find that I thought was a beaut. At first glance, a small parking lot, playground and pavilion isn't much. However, once on the hiking trail a nice boardwalk with benches goes over a large lake. I used a trail guide from a QR code that led me to a Hillsborough park website to help me navigate because most signs in the park are colored posts and colors on trees indicating the path the hiker is on. I didn't see any signs indicating where paths went or their distance once at the park When I visited Lake Dan Preserve, I went straight (over the bridge/boardwalk) and took the second left (the red trail) and a few feet down is a picturesque lake that would make a great back drop for photos or an amazing place to relax by a small pond. Turn right and go down the yellow trail and you can hike into neighbouring Lake Francis Preserve. I choose to vear off and hike the connecting blue trail. The blue trail goes down a gravel road into several large open pastures. I must've said this is gorgeous 15 times. A short time later the trail turns as the back side of Trinity starts to come into view in the distance. As the path continues, it leads to Lake Dan and a fishing pier. It's basically a shorter version of the park's entrance bridge looking out a vibrant and large lake. Birds, fish and some cows mooing in the distance makes the pier a nice place to relax. Although, I can't imagine hiking that distance to find it crowded. When I visited Lake Dan my car was the only one in the parking lot and I didn't see another person inside the park. I plan on visiting this preserve again as I thought some it's views we're nice enough to be back drops in movie scenes. It's wide open spaces and lack of people inside made it's trails an excellent place to enjoy a peaceful hike.

I've driven past Lake Francis Preserve many times and never knew it existed…read more After traveling down the main road, I parked in the open field parking lot and walked the rest of the way into the park through the pedestrian gate. Almost immediately after entering the park, I seen cows not far away from where I was standing. The rest of my walk consisted of me walking toward them (further into the park) and them turning around every few feet. Eventually we reached a large group of cows at the end of the road near a gate. At this point, most of the cows moved out of my way but a few bulls stared me down. I yelled at one that I thought was going to come toward me and it swung it's head and backed away. It turns out Lake Francis leases it's land to a cattle rancher and he/she left their gate open probably on purpose so the cows can roam freely. Essentially where all the cows ended up congregating and eat at is where hikers turn to continue on a primitive trail that connects to Lake Dan Preserve. I didn't see any signs indicating a turn and kept going straight over a fence and a wild boar saw me and took off into the woods, and snarled at me as I passed by. When I reached the cattle rancher's out post I realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be and ended up walking back. So you don't make the same mistake I did, click the QR code on the trail guide sign at the pedestrian gate when you walk into the park because signage is poorly marked after entry. The QR code populates a website that displays several trails, and explains how they differ by showing photos. The scenery of Lake Francis is very pretty but there isn't much to do besides stare at the cows and use the deteriorating road as a jogging path. Be mindful there isn't much shade and there lots or cow poop everywhere. When I return I'd like to hike the primitive trail that leads to Lake Dan Preserve to see what that's all about. If you haven't visited Lake Francis give it a try and experience this park for yourself and take in the quiet setting of it's pastures and animals. It's very different from other nearby parks and all the busyness of Tarpon Springs Road is non-existent.

I was excited when I found Lake Frances Nature Preserve as I hadn't noticed it before, so I decided…read moreto investigate it. What I found was a Horse park, mostly. The parking area is for trailer parking, and there is a 1.5 mile road, but no shade. You can hike, but be aware of the local wildlife as this is as primative as you'll get.

This is a nice preserve on S.R. 52 east of the junction with 41. It is used by remote control…read moreaircraft operators and has a landing strip. There are some wide trails (ie. dirt roads) that get hot in summer. There are some blackberry bushes for foragers... Cypress Creek Preserve and Upper Pithlachascotee River Preserve are also in the area

Florida's natural habitat at it's finest Hope it never…read morechanges Animals wild & free & trees hundreds of years old Make this place a historical hidden treasure

Wow, talk about a hidden park. I spotted this on the Hillsborough County website and was intrigued…read more It's a little confusing because there is a "Cypress Creek Preserve" in Land O' Lakes but this "Cypress Creek Nature Preserve" is in New Tampa. The parking lot is next to the raised bridge on New Tampa Blvd that goes over I-75. It's not visible at all when you're driving on New Tampa Blvd. You have to turn off on a small, dead-end street called Lizard's Tail Rd to get to the parking area. There's a generous amount of parking and more than one covered picnic area. What's really odd is that there is no seating or tables in the covered picnic area. The Achilles heel for the path for this nature preserve is that the entrance is a quarter of a mile from the parking lot. First you have to walk on the road to the beginning of Lizard's Tail Road. Then you have to walk on the sidewalk along the busy New Tampa Blvd. Neither of these walks are exactly pleasant. Then when the road curves to the left if you look to your right you'll see a gap where you can walk through the fencing that parallels the road. I wouldn't have even thought this was an "official" entrance if there wasn't a blue sign there encouraging social distancing. What's nice is that there's also a black drop-box that contains maps of the three trails. Red and yellow are loops and the blue trial is a dead-end. After walking not too far into the woods you'll hit a really nice boardwalk. I would bet that 99.99% of people that drive by on New Tampa Blvd would have no idea it is back here. The boardwalk takes you to a large open area in the woods. Another odd thing is that the path from the boardwalk has been cleared but where the red path loops it looks overgrown and I wouldn't want to walk it in that state. It's nice that Hillsborough County provides these walking areas for us and it certainly was interesting discovering this one.

I really enjoyed this nature preserve. My first time going I followed the red trail to the yellow…read moretrail and did the mile loop. The trails are clearly marked, and not confusing at all. I recommend taking a picture of the map with you. There were flooded areas but they warn u of that at the kiosk before going. I'm sure u could go around the flooding if you're willing to walk through a little brush. Other than that it's clean, and fun!

One of Tampa Bays best kept. Good Biking, Walking, Skating and Dog walking. Peaceful place…read more Beautiful nature walk and Wildlife scenery.

Great facility at beautiful setting. Plenty of parking, clean bathrooms, benches, fresh water to…read moredrink, dog clean-up station. There are also office rooms for rent. Small fee to park there, but otherwise everything is free!