(Note: Red indicates a link)
Site: Withlacoochee State Forest, Croom Wildlife Management Area (WMA)
Address:
Option 1 =1 1240 Croom Rital Road, Brooksville, Florida 34602
Parking Area No. 1
Option 2 = 11050 SW 60th Street (FR-13), Webster Florida 33597
Iron Bridge Day Use Area (See Update No. 1)
Total Area: 20,595 Acres
Camping:
(1) Hog Island Recreation Area, 9001 Pioneer Road, Bushnell, Florida
(2) Silver Lake Campground, 31475 Silver Lake Road, Brooksville, Florida
Bathhouses: One portapotty on the trail network at the Number 1 Parking Area
Surfaces: Unimproved Double Track, Sand, Gravel, Dirt, Clay
Wet/Mud Potential: Medium
Overall Difficulty: Moderate
Track: Track_Croom_011 (Click for dot.gpx track; viewer required, Note 1)
Total Track Recorded: 62.6 miles
Pavement Miles in Track: 17.0 miles
Nearby Trail Networks: Citrus WMA 18 miles ↑ North; Richloam WMA 20 miles → East
Click for downloadable dot.pdf file of the Croom WMA Map.
Croom Confusion:
The Croom Wildlife Management Area and the Croom OHV Motorcycle Area are adjacent to each other near Exit 301 (I-75) to the east of Brooksville. See the Legend on the Map above and my note on the track screen print below. I've found that when Croom is mentioned, folks think of the OHV Park. To be clear, the subject of this post is the Croom Wildlife Management Area ("Croom WMA").
Review:
While not the largest trail network that you'll encounter and virtually all double-track, I scored the Croom WMA fairly high on the difficulty and technical scale. There are really three reasons driving my opinion:
- First and foremost, the Croom WMA is probably one of the sandiest tracks in all of Florida and, if that's not difficult enough, it's ridiculously rutted up by 4WD vehicles that use the forest. As a former Jeeper, I know for a fact that it's a popular location for the area Jeep Clubs. Then add to that every redneck in the area with a 4WD truck. Anyway, rutted sand trails can be a little sketchy to navigate. Oh, and you will definitely need a good sand game to ride the Croom WMA.
- Second is that many of the Croom WMA double track forest roads ride like single track. Seriously! Essentially, these are "unimproved" and "unmaintained" roads where, over the years, the toll of weather and use shows clearly. Many roads are washed out and severely rutted and damaged from use, in some cases down to the slippery clay levels. Then washouts have forced many of the roads into these crazy off camber grades (there's a photo of this condition below) through canyons up to 8 feet high! For double track surfaces, much of the Croom WMA feels like single track, indeed.
- Third, the Croom WMA possesses a condition mostly uncharacteristic to much of Florida. It has hills and some really fun elevations. The most significant is a 17 degree grade on FR-2...through about six inches of rutted sand. Yeah! You don't get a lot of that here in Flatistan.
The Croom WMA is crammed with all kind of trails for hiking, bicycling and equestrian. Vehicles are not allowed on those trails and, for most part, these restrictions seemed to be fairly well marked with signage and color coding.
The trail network for vehicles, such as our motorcycles, is actually a network of 13 Forest Roads. The total miles on Forest Roads in my recorded track was 45.6.
The additional 17.0 pavement miles in my track largely result from the fact that the Withlacoochee River runs right through the east side of the WMA (north/south) and there aren't any bridges. As a result, you have to loop around the river and that can be a little circuitous. As discussed in Update 1 at the end of this post, Option 2 of the track gets most of the paved trail out of the way early in the track.
Track Description
Below is the Track Description for Option 1 that starts at the Number 1 Parking Area on Croom-Rital Road. Option 2 that starts at the Iron Bridge Day Use Area is in the Updates Section at the end of this post.
Unlike roll charts that direct you to make turns, the arrows below are compass-centric; that is, they point North ↑, South ↓, East → and West ←. An arrow with two points ↔ indicates a backtrack; that is, a U-turn at the end of that particular trail or road usually due to a dead-end.
Using this compass-centric approach makes it easier to review the recorded track with a map and identify overlaps and backtracks. While in planning the track, I try to avoid backtracking, there are inevitably situations where backtracking will occur. Prior to riding the trail network, users should consider comparing a clean copy of the site map with the road-by-road list below to identify the overlap and backtracking.
Start at the Number 1 Parking Area on Croom Rital Road (See Address in the Trail Information)
- Croom Rital Road ← West
- Croom Road ← West (Croom Rital Turns into Croom Road)
- FR-9 ↑
- FR-4 ←
- FR-7 ↑
- FR-2 ←
- FR-3 ↓
- FR-4 →
- FR-7 ↓
- FR-12 ↔
- FR-7 ↓
- FR-14 ↔
- FR-3 ↑
- FR-5 ↑
- FR-4 ←
- FR-3 ↓
- FR-3 →
- FR-5 ↑
- FR-8 ↔
- FR-9 ↑
- Nobleton Road ↑
- CR476 →
- CR647 ↓
- CR635 ↓
- SW 90th Ave →
- FR-13 ↓
- FR-13 ↔ Stop at the Iron Bridge on the Withlacoochee
- CR656 →
- US301 ↓
- US98 ←
- Croom Rital Road ↑
See UPDATES at the end of the Post for OPTION 2.
Photos:
Following are some photos from the ride today:
Whether using Option 1 or Option 2 starting locations you'll head into the main body of the Croom WMA northbound on FR-9 that intersects with Croom Road.
It's not too long before the road turns to mush and you'll find that the surface conditions will change quite often.
As mentioned, equestrians, bicyclists, hikers (and let me add, hunters) are using the WMA. Keep your eyes peeled as many of their restricted trails intersect with the Forest Roads in the Track. Hard to miss a horse, but it might be difficult to see a hiker or bicyclist emerging from the brush. I did not see any horses today, but I did a few hikers and lots of horse tracks. Well, I think they were horse tracks.
The Smith Prairie Trailhead is on the south side of Croom Road at the FR-7 southbound entrance. Good place to stop and hydrate. Also, there's lots of room to park there if necessary, but it can be a little wet at times. The better parking locations are the two options I've provided in the Trail Information.
Below is a look at how expansive the area at the Smith Prairie Trailhead is.
Yeah, a little off-camber is somewhat of a theme out there and this one isn't even the worst of the bunch. 😊 Many roads are washed out into this condition. There's a good deal of clay showing and that can get a little sketchy when it's wet, as well.
It's dry season right now, and there just weren't any water and mud issues out there today. Some small stuff like this is about it. During the wet season, it'll be quite different; however, I could see that most of the "potentially" flooded stretches of forest road have tracks already in place to circumnavigate the water...and whatever is in it.
This is a good example of the rutty surface that I previously referred to. There's quite a bit of it in the Croom WMA. It knocked me on my rear twice today. Keep your eyes on what you're doing.
This next photo is at the Iron Bridge Day Use Area. It's definitely one of the places that you'll want to visit on the trail network or you can follow Start/Finish Option 2 and both start and end you're day in this area. If you're in a group and think you might want to relax at the end of your ride, you might want to consider Option 2. See Update 1 at the end of this post.
The Iron Bridge actually isn't there anymore, although there are some remnants. In it's day it was a railroad bridge. There are a number of picnic tables and trails to visit. One way or another, definitely arrange your visit to spend some time there.
The two main camping areas are Silver Lake and Hog Island. There are some camping areas out in the WMA, but those are only for certain hunting seasons. The Silver Lake Camp is near the Number 1 Parking location (Option 1) and the Hog Island Camp is near the Iron Bridge Day Use Area (Option 2).
Videos:
Below are three videos taken on the Forest Trails in the Croom WMA. I believe these videos are a fair representation of the kinds of terrain that one could expect to encounter. However, keep in mind that the videos were recorded in the drier season.
Croom_WMA_1
12:12 Minutes:Seconds
"Watch for quicksand; I'm kidding."
Croom_WMA_2
14:27 Minutes:Seconds
"Sharing with the equestrians."
Croom_WMA_3
13:42 Minutes:Seconds
"Man caught peeing in the forest."
Summary:
So, in summary I find the Croom WMA to be a really great half-day Florida forest road network. There are many different road surfaces in the Croom WMA and the elevations, washouts and crazy off camber forest roads are just plain fun to ride. Yes, there is a lot of deep sand in the WMA, but if you ride dual sport in Florida you need to know how to ride on sand; if you don't, visit the Croom WMA and develop your skill.
Consider setting up camp at Silver Lake or Hog Island and add Citrus WMA (17 miles to the north) and/or Richloam WMA (20 miles to the east) to your dual sport trip!
Updates:
Update No. 1: Start/Finish Considerations
The more I reflect on the Track that I recorded, the more I think a better start/finish location would be the Iron Bridge Day Use Area at 11050 SW 60th Street. Webster, Florida 33597. As mentioned, I already have a concern about the amount of parking at the Number 1 Parking Area because it's shared with the Withlacoochee Bicycle Trail. In addition, again thinking back, the Iron Bridge Day Use Area would be a better location to end your day on the trails. It's very secluded, right on the water, picnic tables, and a stone throw from the Hog Island Camping Facility.
Launching your day from the Iron Bridge Day Use Are doesn't require a new Track because it's already on the Track. All you do is start at that location and follow the Track as outlined below. As you'll another benefit of this arrangement is to dispense with virtually all of the pavement near the beginning of the trail.
Start at the Iron Bridge Day Use Area
- FR-13 →
- CR656 → (2.1 Miles Paved)
- US301 ↓ (5.2 Miles Paved)
- US98 ← (3.4 Miles Paved)
- Croom Rital Road ↑ (5.3 Miles Paved)
- Croom Road ← West (0.8 Miles Paved)
- FR-9 ↑
- FR-4 ←
- FR-7 ↑
- FR-2 ←
- FR-3 ↓
- FR-4 →
- FR-7 ↓
- FR-12 ↔
- FR-7 ↓
- FR-14 ↔
- FR-3 ↑
- FR-5 ↑
- FR-4 ←
- FR-3 ↓
- FR-3 →
- FR-5 ↑
- FR-8 ↔
- FR-9 ↑
- Nobleton Road ↑
- CR476 →
- CR647 ↓
- CR635 ↓
- SW 90th Ave →
- FR-13 ↓
Just a reminder that the arrows above are compass-centric; not turn-centric.
Update No. 2: Lunch.
There isn't much out in the forest for lunch. However, right at the north end of Edgewood (just across the road) is a place called River Ratz Cafe. Lunch and dinner with a nice deck on the Withlacoochee River. The address is 29295 Lake Lindsey Road, Nobleton, Florida 34661.
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Note 1: The track recording linked in the post was made near the date of posting. There can't be any assurance that the trail network's navigability will be the same beyond that date. Weather conditions in particular could make certain of the track sections impassable and, on the other hand, may open sections of the track that were not passable when we made the recording. In addition, it's rather important to keep a keen eye on the Forestry signage as new issues may have arisen since the recording that the park rangers want users of the park to consider or comply with.
