I'm starting to get more and more experience under my belt with bikepacking and enjoying every bit of it. Recently an old diving buddy bought a bike and started posting here on MTBR. He showed interest in bikepacking and I brought up the idea of a shakedown run. The timing is perfect, we could get a quick and easy afternoon ride, campout, and do some more riding in the morning; all while escaping the heat of the day. We live in Florida, and its HOT, pretty much 95F and 95% humidity every day this time of year.

St Marks Wildlife Refuge is a Park south of Tallahassee, Florida; bordering the Gulf of Mexico. It contains 68,000 acres of Wakulla, Jefferson, and Taylor counties and includes sandhills, beaches, tidal marshes, lowland hardwoods, islands, creeks, rivers, springs, and sinkholes. I actually did my first bikepacking trip traveling from the western side of the Panacea Tract off the Ochlockonee River and travelled east through the Wakulla Tract and St Marks Tract making it as far east as just past the Pinhook River, before heading back south to the St Marks Lighthouse. This short, shakedown, trip would be taking place only in the St Marks Unit.

I got out of work Friday afternoon at 5PM and drove south to meet up with Flying Monkey at 6PM at the St Marks Welcoming Center. From there we headed south to the lighthouse off the Gulf of Mexico, where we'd leave our vehicles over night. The bikes were unloaded off the vehicles and we were ready to go around 6:30. There were thunderstorms earlier in the day, but they had already blown over leaving slightly cooler temperatures and steaming roads. Just north of our departure, we took the obligatory lighthouse photos to anounce the beginning of our journey.





This is also where we saw the first of the huge population of American Aligators that call St Marks Wildlife Refuge home. The only populations greater happen to belong to teradactyl sized stinging insects of all kinds. The insects are typically horrible, but since we were just blessed by Tropical Storm Debby, the floodplains are flooded and the horrendous supply of insects have multiplied to levels of epidemic proportions. Sweet right?

We rode a short section of pavement north until veering off to the right on our first available levee trail. The southside of this tract of the Refuge is composed of tidal creeks and salt marshes with raised earthen dikes and levee trails scattered about as a means of traversing it all.





It was somewhere around this point when the learning portion of this shakedown run would start to come into fruition. The Monkey had packed several gallons of water for a relatively short ride over the afternoon, with the availability of water replenishment along the way, as well as at the campsite. He had also packed the gross majority of his kit weight in his backpack, rather than let the bike carry it. This would eventually take its toll on the Monkey, but thats what shakedown runs are all about. We started heading west and crossed the main road and started the transition from coastal marsh to lowland marshes, floodplains, and pine forests.

Our doubletrack eventually came to an end in a flurry of buzzing insects and not too distant crashing sounds in the woods(decidedly Sasquatch). There was also an overgrown scraggly looking trail heading off to the remains of the long defunct town of Port Leon, which was flooded over a century ago and the townshed moved inland to slightly higher grown. At the very end is a point which offers a good view of where the St Marks River converges with the Gulf of Mexico. A great place to be near sunset.



The rest of our Friday night went by slowly, trudging down grassy service road that hadn't been worn down in quite some time. Riding through grass with soft ground underneath was tough, it sucked the life out of you. It was impossible to hold any sort of momentum without continuous input, almost like riding in loose sand. Finally we hit pavement and turned north for Newport, where we'd be camping. It was 9:30 before we made it to Newport Parks(where we'd camp for the night). Just over the St Marks River was a bar & grill called Outz Too. I'm sure it contained the majority of the Newport population, I'd estimate about 20, and it was karaoke night. Suprisingly enough, the vast majority of them could actually hold a tune. The food was good, unless you tried the coleslaw and potatoe salad, aparently.



After some food, we headed back across the river to set up camp. We found a site with suitable trees so the Flying Monkey could set up his neat DIY hammock. Unfortunately the grounds had ponded up for the most part and I had to find higher ground... so I set up ontop of a playground, much to Monkey's enjoyment.





Photos from Saturday morning. I had a pop-tart for breakfast and the Monkey broke out a few DIY penny stoves he had made previous to the trip and cooked himself up some oatmeal and coffee. I'm not much on coffee anyway We took a long look at all the stuff the Monkey had packed, ditched an oceans worth of water, and reshuffled more weight to the bike, with less in the pack. This proved to make the days travels possible!

We took a quick trip to the river to get a quick photo of the fog rising over the springfed waters.



We headed south on a few miles of pavement, recovered the sunglasses that Monkey dropped(and subsequently ran over), and eventually found a tram road heading east. Our goal was the Pinhook River. This forest road never ceases to dissappoint when it comes to wildlife. We spooked a black bear off from a distance and must have seen atleast a dozen deer. I also saw my first snake of the trip, a friendly little guy too.



This tram road was good well trodden doubletrack with a limestone base, it allowed us to eat up miles much faster than the previous day.



We were nearing the Pinhook in no time, but were stopped short of our destination by the ever feared Wildlife Sanctuary - No Entry sign. D'Oh! We followed the rules and turned around.





So with the Pinhook out of the question, we turned south and started heading back to the lighthouse. The pineforests made way to more and more water and finally we were back in coastal wetlands, and levee trails. It was getting later in the morning and shade just doesn't exist out in the salt marshes aside from the rare palm tree. The trails do offer some excellent bird watching(and gators) and a great view of the wetlands by being directly in the middle of it all.



We eventually neared an exit to pavement, and the Monkey promptly took the opportunity to get out of the grass and fly hard across the asphalt. His back was still aching from the previous day, and if you had seen his pack, you'd understand why!



I kept to the levee trails and finished off the planned route, then pavement and smooth sailing with the lighthouse in sight.



It was a great way to get some good peddle time in and beat the majority of the heat. Despite the fact that I heard the words "I hate you" about a million times over the two days it took for our little trip, I think the Monkey is hooked on bikepacking. He's already milling over maps and potential trails and routes for another overnighter within a month or two. He learned alot about what and how to pack things and I learned that silicon spray can do wonders on regular printed paper maps!

Looking forward to the next adventure, sounds like it may be at Blackwater State Forest

Saw a handfull of gators along the way, but not too many and all too shy for letting me get close. I've got another trip report from St Marks Wildlife Refuge a couple pages back from late 2011 that was shorter in length and duration, but far more gators

Sunday morning started off much like Saturday, in a haze of fog. Can't really beat the view.





I stopped at the "gas station" again for breakfast. Ate a couple jimmy dean sausage egg-n-cheese sammiches and some orange juice and headed north. My camera batteries started to die, so I didn't get many pictures from the day. I skirted the Apalachicola Savannah Rsearch Natural Area, found another claypit full of blue water, and an open fire(read as fallen pine tree set ablaze) left my some partying rednecks(can only guess by all the empty beer cans all over. Shot the girlfriend a text to alert the feds of a fire along with a location. I continued on. Later on, I'd see a helicopter heading that way.





I continued heading north on some secondary roads and found some of the prettiest doubletrack I had traveled in the last few days. It was great!



I didn't want the trip to end, despite me coming to the end of my journey. Then after nearly 100 miles of sand, clay, and loam... I hit a bog. I tell you now, never take 118-J, its a trail that will forever stick in my mind as the shittiest road in the forest. There was about 1000' of winding mud bog followed by the trail closing down to a narrow pig trail with a half dozen trees laid out across the path. The trails in this area aren't marked well, if at all, and I started to doubt where I was... I cranked up the GPS for the first time on the trip to verify I was going where I needed to go. Eventually it opened back up and I hit marked trail again.



By this time, I was just about 5 miles from the end. I still managed to make my first(and last) wrong turn of the trip to get me a mile further out of the finish. Maybe I didn't want it to end. Honestly, my fun meter pegged in the bog, I was done, and I was looking forward to Camel Lake, another recreational area where I could take a swim. The water felt sooo good.





Michelle picked me up at Camel Lake and we headed south back to Sumatra and The Family Coastal Restraunt for a late lunch. It was a great trip!



Here's the route, if anyone's interested, ended up at 131 miles. 46 on day one, 40 on day two, and 45 on day three. I learned alot. I need to work on waterproofing most of my gear. On the next trip, food, tools, and spare parts are going in the frame bag, food will go in the hydration pack. Otherwise, I think my progression into bikepacking is coming along nicely. Gonna do a few easier trips over the summer and probably another long one this Fall. Can't wait!

Saturday morning came bringing lots and lots of fog. It didn't seem like it'd be burning off anytime soon so I didn't wait to (fail at)let the tent dry out before packing it up. Yesterdays rain, sand, slogfest was already showing wear on the bike. The chain started rusting out just overnight - ick. I cleaned her up, packed the rest of my junk, and head out.



It was 10:30 or 11AM before the fog finally burned off. It kept the temperatures cool, but also kept me damp.



I kept heading west and eventually found myself at Twin Poles campsite. I rested up a bit there, but not for long, as there just wasn't much shade. ANF is primarily composed of planted slash pine and longleaf pine, neither of which are the greatest shade trees in the summer. Nearer water, you could find some good hardwoods to retreat under, but they're simply not always available. I eventually hit New River and the sun finally came out.



This was my typical Saturday forest road trail.



I found a few interesting water holes. Looked like inviting swimming holes, maybe claypits filled with springwater?



Heres a small savanna with outskirting wetlands.



Just before I reached Sumatra I was passed by a group of dirtbikers, they gave me the thumbs up and kept heading west. On reaching Sumatra, I was looking forward to eating some great food instead of my pack food. The Family Coastal Restraunt has some great seafood and steaks, I'm glad it was good, it was also the only place place in town. The dirtbikers were there too, really cool guys who also started in Tallahassee(that morning) and were heading SW to Carabelle for the night, before heading home. Great bunch of guys and they ended up picking up my lunch tab(score!).



After stuffing myself during dinner, I headed to the only gas station(but its out of gas) in town and picked up some beer. The selection sucked, but I needed some beer. After stuffing the hydration pack, I headed south towards Wright Lake and then SW some more. Theres a series of unmarked trails that lead around to a neat little campsite near where Owl Creek meets up with the Apalachicola River. Its got a great little water access if you have kayaks or a canoe too.



I set up the tent and hung out my still damp clothes(I need to work on my waterproofing) and decided I wanted to go out for a swim. Wright Lake Recreational area is based around a nice springfed lake. It has cool, clear water and a little trail connecting roughly from where I was to the lake itself. So I took it, finally on something that wasn't forest road or doubletrack for the day!



Neat little skinny with an inconvenient handrailing(for hikers).



Wright Lake hit the spot though!



Saw another Black Racer on the way back in, this time I was able to get a picture before it slithered away.



The national forest really does offer some beautiful views, I particularly liked coming across wetlands full of pitcher plants.



Back at camp, mosquitos were bad, but not as bad as the previous nights. I drank my sixer of Naty light(yeah, Sumatra isn't the beer capital of the world) and hit the sack.

Last year I did my first bikepacking trip at St Marks Wildlife Refuge in Wakulla County Florida. I did a fairly simple two day, one night thru trip making 83 miles with resupply points available along the way. It was a great trip fueled by the posts of some of the more prolific bikepackers here on mtbr. Those posts added an entire new dimension to my biking and combined two of my favorite past-times. So where do I go next? Well, before my trip last Fall, I really didn't know how many options I really had as bikepacking simply doesn't seem to be done very often in Florida aside from some individuals in central part of the state - most of which seemed more geared towards ultra-racing. There are actually lots of options, Florida is teaming with state and federal parks. Its just a matter of connecting up enough trail. What better place to go next than the largest park in Florida, which just happens to border the city of Tallahassee(where I live)?

The Apalachicola National Forest is 567,742 acres of a mix of lowlands, swamps, sandhills, and flatwoods with a smattering of sinkholes, springs, sand ponds, lakes, and 6 different watersheds. The ANF houses more than 300 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. There are several hikes available at different areas of the forest, several recreational areas for swimming, the Florida Trail(which runs the entire length of the state) spans ANF, and there is even a system of singletrack for mountain bikers called Munson Hills which contains two major loops called Munson Hills and Twilight, between the two containing just over 20 miles. Its a great place for all sorts of recreational activities and happens to have forest roads, secondary roads, and tons of unmarked trails running all over it. You can pick up a great waterproof map from one of the two ranger stations that shows all the main roads.

It took a few weeks to finalize my route. I haven't moved up to treating my own water, so it was mostly based on potable water sources. Didn't take long for it to be clear that I'd have to pack food along for the first two days of this trip as resupply points(outside of water) were pretty much nonexistant along the route until the end of day two. I'd be doing a three day trip this time, so a little extra gear in the form of some extra clothes, and I'd be packing away legitimate meals rather than just snacks. I learned that packing everything on the rack on my last trip definately had an affect on making my bike less balanced. This trip, the sleeping bag would go up front, sleeping bag on back, and the clothes would go in the framebag my fiance made for me. Food would go in the hydration pack.

Enough of all that junk, onto the trip!

I started at my house, left just after sunrise loaded up and ready to go on a Friday morning. I'm a halfmile from a "rails to trails" paved bike path called the St Marks Bike Trail, that runs from Tallahassee to St Marks, FL.



From the St Marks bike path, I followed pavement just a couple miles south to the trailhead parking lot of Munson Hills mountain bike trails. I'm gonna start my bikepacking trip off with the fastest singletrack in Florida!





Following Munson counterclockwise, I hopped on the west connector which crosses a gasline before connecting up to Twilight. Instead of going to Twilight, I hopped on the gasline and headed west. Then off to a service road and jumped over Crawfordville Hwy and Munson Slough before heading back into ANF via some unmarked trails. I meandered my way around until I found a nice little sinkhole that laid at the bottom of an 80' depression. Water was blue and its a great place to dive, just remember to bring a rope if you plan on going to the bottom.



From here I went south and west some more until I reach the Trout Pond recreational area where I ate lunch.



From here I jumped on the GF&A bike path, which is another paved rails to trails route that winds just 2.5 miles south. At the end, I jumped back off onto shared OHV/forest road that was often pretty loose with sugar sand. I caught a light shower that just helped cool things off and kept heading west when I found this little green snake crossing the road. He was no more than 10" long and pencil thin.



Saw a dinosaur at the crossing over Lost Creek



I stopped at Brown House hunt camp for a little breather then continued down more forest road over the Sopchoppy River. There were all sorts of flowery things on the sides of the road, especially around water and swampy areas.



Eventually, it started raining again, this time alot... and quite heavy at times. It wasn't refreshing like the previous showers, it ended up being downright miserable after awhile. The majority of the forest roads and trails in the ANF is sand over clay. The rain helps pack the sand down to a point, but these heavy rains seemed to mix the sand and clay. It was sticking on everything, my person, my camping gear, and especially my bike(and its drivetrain). The majority of the rest of my 3 day trip would have my bike creaking and popping like crazy.



The good news is wildlife was out in force. I saw several black racers, lots of whitetailed deer, and was continually getting the crap scared out of me by turkeys exploding out of my perifial vision as I passed them. ANF also has several areas flagged and fenced(the zappy kind to keep bears out) off for bee hives. Kinda neat.



Didn't see anything particularly dangerous on my trip. Thought maybe I saw a small blackbear cub on Sat morning, but couldn't be sure due to the fog and distance. Bears don't bother me much, hogs worry me the most. Snakes aren't an issue for me, nor are spiders(although I should worry about them more since I've got two brown recluse bites/scars now over the years). Hell, even the plants are carnivorous around here though!



Finally the rains blew over and friendlier skies shown through, just in time for me to cross the Ochlockonee River and reach my first nights camp at Porter Lake. Sorry for the condensation/bluriness, it had just quit raining and the lense was fogged.



Porter Lake camp site, and it has potable water, as long as you don't mind a bit of brown tint to your drink!



I had reached my destination for the day, only 46 miles in, but still my longest ride to date. My legs still felt strong, and unlike my first trip, my knees were giving me absolutely zero issues after the first stretch of trip. I'm not sure if its because I didn't push it any, typically keeping my gearing down, or if my stretching and preriding had that much of an impact. Maybe both? Either way, I set up camp and hit the bed early, out by 7PM. The mosquitos were simply awefull, so I couldn't hang around outside once stopped and geared down.

Are you trying to get away from using both a GPS/Phone and Spot at the same time?

Robert, what will your new website provide that Bikepacking.net falls short on?

This is not a knock, just an honest question. I like the main page, its purdy 

Thanks for the article, I'm going to try a few small adjustments.

I've just finished my first bike packing trip a few weeks ago and everything went pretty well. It was more riding than I had previously done, and with a full camp kit(tent/bag/change of clothes). My legs were expectadely sore, but riding around 50 miles each day, had also made my knees ache quite a bit - which is something thats not happened previously.

How can I prevent this?

More, longer rides to similar distances pre-trip? Adjust my cockpit?

Seen your blog and definately got some ideas from it, thanks NI!

My name is Mathew and I'm on other forums(mtbr is the only other bike forum) as SuPrBuGmAn. I rediscovered my love for mountain bikes in 2009 and have been riding regularly ever since. For about a year, I've been contemplating a bikepacking trip and didn't think there were many places here in Florida to make a larger overnight ride. I found Naked Indians blog via mtbr which gave me some motivation and then started looking into panhandle alternatives. I'm finding more and more potential rides just waiting to be mapped and rode.

I just recently finished my first overnighter, posted a report here already. It was 83 miles, which was difficult for me, but I'm starting to understand this is just a few hours ride for some people on here

Anyway, thanks for the site.

A long distance(surely a relative term) bikepacking trip has been on my mind for about a year now. In no small part due to threads found on mtbr's Passion forum(I've just found this website), and various posts full of pictures and videos by mikesee and others like him. Doing it locally would keep this trip in my budget and timeframe. Unfortunately, we don't have mountains, but Florida still has a wide range of scenic views to enjoy. Large trails systems are hard to come by in this state as, finding single track over 20 miles long can be difficult, and only a handfull of places in the state can boast more; none of which are long enough for the adventure I was looking for... so I knew I'd be looking at double track, service roads, levee trails, and dirt roads for the distances I persued. Luckily, we have several parks in the state which can be used to work out these sorts of adventures including Apalachicola and Ocola National Forests. I chose the St Marks Wildlife Refuge for my first trip as it follows through alot of what makes Florida beautiful. Sandhills, pineforests, coastal lakes, sinkholes, springs, hardwood forests, marsh, beaches, rivers, and creeks run through this refuge which spans across the southside of Wakulla County, FL. The only downside to choosing the St Marks Wildlife Refuge is the fact that the three seperate tracts(Panacea, Wakulla, and St Marks) do not connect via trail, and you have to hop on pavement to connect them(and cross the major rivers - Wakulla and St Marks Rivers). The benefit would be I wouldn't have to pack food in, as there were places to eat on connecting roads.



I'm on a budget, but still managed to score a light packtent for $40 at Bass Pro Shop, and had a fairly light sleeping bag that I stuffed in a bag. My girlfriend sewed me up a frame bag that would handle a water bottle and a change of clothes. I carried a camelback with tools, a couple spare tubes(incase the tubeless sealant doesn't cut it), and some snacks. Strapped another water bottle to the pack on the back, mounted on a seatpost mounted rear rack(Topeac MTX). Temps were going to be between 55 and 75F throughout the trip, so exposure protection wasn't ranging much and tshirts and shorts were fine throughout the entire weekend.



I got alot of support from my girlfriend on this trip, including driving me out to the drop point for sunrise on Saturday morning. All the orange was no mistake, the Panacea and Wakulla Tracts get hunted, and while there weren't hunt dates during the weekend I was there, I didn't want to trust that the locals understood that.... My starting point was at a boat launch on the Ochlocknee River, more specifically on Roho Road. A half-mile of pavement brought me to my entry into the wildlife refuge.



Within a mile and a half of my ride, I had already spooked off a black bear. It was the only one I saw during the trip, but there were more around. The above were fresh tracks a few miles further into the trip.





This is a fairly typical representation of the northside of the Panacea Tract, pineforest, sandhills, and sinkholes. Alot of these trails were covered in sandspurs a month ago, but I guess the seedlings had all finally dropped, because they weren't much of a problem at all on the trip.





The southside of the Panacea Tract(south of Hwy 98), moves away from pineforests and lets loose into coastal marsh, and then beaches.





Little more of the same.





I made my way out of the Panacea Tract and headed to a food truck on the way to connecting back into the Wakulla Tract. It was suprisingly excellent.



The Wakulla Tract has is mostly composed of hardwood uplands and pineforests, but its crisscrossed with streams and creeks as well as a few springs and sinkholes. I also ran across an albino coyote, but it was far too skitish for me to snap a picture of...



Shepherd Spring, a second magnitude spring that feeds into Gander Bay.



Interesting little flower, berry thingy...



I jumped back on the highway, its the only crossing over the Wakulla and St Marks Rivers. Maybe one day I can look into a packraft and expand this type of adventure without pavement. This is the Wakulla River, which is springfed by several springs, including Wakulla Spring. Wakulla Spring is one of the largest springs in the world, the second largest 1st magnitude spring in Florida.



Another conveniently placed foodtruck for some BBQ dinner and off again. I also grabbed a few beers from a gas station and stuffed them in my camelback for later.



This is another springfed river, the St Marks River.



I camped at Newport Park, which is nestled along the St Marks River. I got there before sunset and setup the tent. The mosquito's were bad(FL state bird), but this weekend the real trouble came from the noseeums. They were friggin horrible and I retreated into the tent to enjoy my beer. 43 miles on Saturday, my longest single days ride to date. My legs were sore and my knees were killing me, but the beer cut the edge off nicely. I went to sleep around 7PM.



Sunrise on the St Marks happened around 6:30 and I slept right up to it(thats alot of sleep for me). The day promised to be far less overcast!



I hit the St Marks Tract of the St Marks Wildlife Refuge early and headed straight out to the former site of Port Leon, which is a historical port that was flooded over when a storm brought in an abnormally high tide. The community resettled on higher grounds and Newport was born.



Here's a shot of the river downstream of the Wakulla and St Marks confluence.





The St Marks Tract is composed mostly of pineland forest, coastal wetlands, marsh, and levee trails.





Saw hundreds of lizards out on Sunday, temps were closing in on 80F and they were enjoying a bit more of the warmer weather before "winter".



I saw bear, coyote, several deer, turkey, fox squirels, grey squirels, eagles, hawks, herons, egrets, snakes, and many other types of birds; but none as photogenic as this little buck. He walked within 10' of me while I was snapping a pic of a gator off to the side of the trail.





I crossed over the Pinhook river and headed east a few more miles before my turnaround point. The FL trail continues east as a footpath, no bikes. I turned back and headed south to my pickup point(St Marks Lighthouse).



Typical coastal wetlands and levee trail.







My camera battery died shortly after this... so I don't have a photo of the lighthouse from this particular trip. The PnS I was using was nice and compact, but I sure missed the flexibility and control I have with my dSLRs. I need to save up for one of the EVIL cameras.

Here's one of my past shots of the St Marks Lighthouse, a nice site to end an 83 mile trip.