alafia river state park

Great biking trails! If you got your bike at Walmart/toy store/target etc STAY ON GREEN TRAILS only. (Just a warning) it will break and you will get hurt. You can walk on green bike trails and there are designated walking trails also. Has bathroom/ limited vending machine. Bring cooler.

Love this place! Many bike trails but has walking trails, horse trails & an archery range. Cheap entry fee & well worth the price of the visit.

While heading south for our annual winter break we stumbled on Alafia River State Park. Open since 1998 on a limited basis and fully since 2004 this park offers camping with water and electric hook up, a dump station, Equestrian camping, stables and over fifteen miles of biking/hiking trails. These trails are not for the faint of heart! This is a serious biking community. These trails are located on the site of an old phosphate mine. They are certified by IMBA (international mountain bicycling association) as an EPIC Destination site. The park requires helmets while on the trails no matter your experience level and the park office offers loner helmets if you don't have one with you.The park is less than 20 minutes from any amenity you could want. From restaurants, malls, medical ect.... This is a great park to tent camp or RV at. The only downfall is that there is no full hook up sites. Meaning no sewer at each site. But this is a great park well worth a visit.We plan on staying here next year on our trip south.

Great family camping, the grounds are beautiful and pristine. Mt. bike trails are awesome and has a great variety for beginners and experts. Park rangers are great, loved the Saturday morning coffee and doughnuts Dont forget its equestrian friendly so bring your horses. Enjoy!

If you love mountain biking, and are close to the central coast of Florida, this place is for you. The trails have something for everyone. There are beginning courses to double black diamond expert courses. The mt. Bike trails here are some of the best in the state. This park also has a small campground and equestrian trails. This park is great and only a half hour drive to the Gulf of Mexico. If you love Mt. Biking and the great outdoors, this is a great for for you!

The Alafia river is great for canoeing and camping, and its dark water is as nice as the Bahamas to me. I heard that the water is dark brown from a phosphate mining accident 0 years ago, but that the water is not unsafe. Thank God because we swam in it for years and years. Hillsborough county parks and rec do a really great job of making sure their parks are well maintained and that they have great facilities. You can't go wrong letting the kids burn away an afternoon on their playgrounds.

My better half and I took the horses out here for a group ride today. Its the second time we have been here. They have miles and miles of trails for riding. They also have bicycling trails as well. All the trails are well marked. You could spend all day out here and still not travel every trail. A great place for a days ride!

This is a nice little location. Two small loops in the park accommodate the average size campers. Large campers and big 5th wheels may not, especially the dump site. I had a tight fit with a 26 ft travel trailer and F250. The park itself is nice. Built around old phosphate pits and lands, the walking trail is nice with its hills and dips. There is also an extreme bike trail maintained by a local club (SWAMP). Also horse barn and trail is on property. Kayak on the lake or a short drive to the Alafia river or one of the big pits. On our trip we went under the bridge, the way away from river was blocked by downed trees. We enjoyed the weekend and will return.

Very nice roomy and private campsites. No playground for young children but lots of hiking trails and a small lake to walk around and fish in. Probably one half of the thirty available sites are pull through. There is an extensive biking trail plus horse trails and a separate horse camp. Did I mention how large the campsites are? From 100 to 200 feet between sites. Not much shade so bring some. Water and electric at each site. They sell ice and firewood at the ranger station. Only small downside is I can hear truck traffic on nearby county road 39. Goodson's Strawberry Farm sales about 8 miles west down county road 672 to get ur strawberry fix in season (early Feb to late Mar as far as I know).

We just recently spent 4 days camping with our horses at Alafia. We had a wonderful time. Everything was better than expected. Our only issue was ants. After a bad storm, fire ants made a home in our hay. I highly recommend bring some concentrated ant spray and a pallet to keep your hay up off the ground.

We camped here Last November with 7 or 8 other campers and thoroughly enjoyed it. The site were spacious, flat and very neat clean rest rooms as well. At dusk the skitters come out in droves but hey, its Florida. We liked it enough that we will go back as camp hosts in early 2014. We think that Florida has some of the nicest state parks available and this is certainly one of them.

Very nice large Park were you would miss it if not looking. They have plenty of camping spots as well as a stable for horses. They have endless trails for walking or riding. The stables are free to use, first come first serve with camping site. Very clean and we'll maintained.

So many options here for outdoor lovers.... Alafia River State Park is best known for their wonderful off road biking trails. The SWAMP Club maintains them and does a phenomenal job of making sure trails are in good shape and are well marked for all users. There are designated trails for off-road biking, hiking and horseback riding. There are also multi-use trails throughout the park. Trails are easy to follow and marked for level of difficulty. The River Loop and Sand Pine are great to hike - I often see beginner level bikers on these as well. My favorite for hiking is the Old Agrico trail, a reclaimed phosphate pit. It's hard to explain, but it's like hiking mountains in reverse. As Florida doesn't have mountains, it's as close to varying levels of elevation as you are going to find in this state. You hike down into a pit and have to hike around the man made hills. For a Floridian, it's a serious workout! The parks service has done a wonderful job utilizing the old phosphate pits to create several trails of varying elevations and difficulty. In some places it's so surreal that you almost expect to run into dinosaurs when you turn a corner. I have several friends that bike the double black diamond trails. I've heard them tell of multiple crashes and falls into the swamp. I've been on all trails available as a hiker and they are each unique. Bikers come by at high speeds but are courteous to each other and foot traffic. Just a suggestion to always give them the right of way as it's easier to get out of the way if you are on foot. I've not been on the trails designated for bikers only - but oh have I seen some great footage of my friends crashing out there. If you intend to bike the off road trails a helmet is REQUIRED. Also make sure you have a good quality bike as I've seen people carry off cheaply made bikes in pieces. Cheaper bikes aren't going to survive the ride. As a hiker or equestrian? Perfect nature - and occasional entertainment as you see those on their bikes in the distance. I have heard some creative language on the trails and have seen more than one person need medical attention after crashing. If you are a hiker pick a trail that suits your mood. You can choose a trail where you won't pass another person and can enjoy nature. You can also choose a trail with live entertainment courtesy of watching the bikes go by as you hike. Almost forgot - camping available. There are two entrances to the park, the main one and one for equestrians. Fishing available if you park at the equestrian entrance. ENJOY!

BEAUTIFUL state park - we saw lots of animals, birds and fish. The area is well taken of with lots of places to walk and see nature at it's best!Nice family place to take the kids or jus to relax!

We brought out bikes on our last RV trip, not having an itinerary, Alafia was a wonderful surprise.We don't have the off road competitive bikes, but the easy trails were a great challenge for us. Alafia is a small park and very clean. It has a great section for campers and their horses. Lots of trails for horses, too. It was very clean, but the one thing I did miss...no washers or dryers. I loved the quit. There are quit a few sites with small shade trees to sit under. I would stop at Alafia again.