Green Swamp Tour - Northeast of Tampa | Florida Motorcycle Roads and Rides

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Green Swamp Tour - Northeast of Tampa

Average Rating - This road has been rated by 15 visitors

State: Florida
Date Submitted: October 1, 2008
Submitted by: John
Motorcycle Road Length: 77 Miles

Written Directions

Begin at the intersection of I-75 and Hwy 50. There is a Cracker Barrel and all the fast food places there. Head East on 50 almost to the city of Mascotte and look for Hwy 565 (Bay Lake Road). Take a right on to Hwy 565 (Bay Lake Road) and take this down to Lake Erie Rd where you want to take a left and continue to Hwy 33. At Hwy 33 turn right and go down to Green Pond Rd where you want to turn right. Stay on Green Pond as it turns into Rockridge Rd. Follow Rockridge Rd until the stop sign and turn right to remain on Rockridge Rd. Then follow Rockridge Rd across Hwy 98 to Old Dade City Rd and turn right. Take Old Dade City Road as it heads north up to Hwy 98. Turn left on to Hwy 98 and almost immediately turn left on to Hwy 54 heading west. Take Hwy 54 into Zephryhills, where the tour ends. Ride Safe.

Scenery

A scenic tour of the Green Swamp Preserve and some nice rural roads. Allow two hours for the ride plus gas and food stops. The Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve is an official Florida protected area found in the adjoining corners of three different counties - Sumter, Lake, and Polk. This is a large preserve consisting of 560,000 acres of wetlands, flatlands, and low ridges. Sections of the area are bounded by well defined and visible sandy ridge lines. The rainwater that flows across the surface to help form the headwaters of four major rivers: the Withlacoochee, the Ocklawaha, the Hillsborough and the Peace. The protected status of the area and as well as the nice collection of natural water bodies combine to form a nice quiet & rural feel that motorcycle riders from all around the area ride in to enjoy.

Road Quality

This one has lots of twisties for Florida and a good amount of nice rural riding. Another bonus is you will find very little traffic to get in your way.

Roadside Amenities

Eat at the beginning of the ride because there are not a lot of options for food on the tour. You'll also pass through one of the sections of Withlacoochee State Forest which is the 3rd largest state forest in FL yet it is broken up into many sections (you'll be going through what is called the Richloam Tract). At the end of your ride, you'll end up in Zephyrhills where you'll find a lot of restaurants.

Additional Info

- View the weather forecast for this area from Yahoo weather .

Nickname (optional) John

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Reviewed by Guest on December 5, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Garrett
motorcycle_year: 2009
motorcycle_make: Suzuki
motorcycle_type: Standard
Comment: Fun ride with some good turns, Green Pond road is NOT in the best condition (a handful of sections have some big patching/uneven road replacement) and gets a bit narrow to really lean it over through the turns.
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Reviewed by Guest on September 6, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Tom
motorcycle_year: 2000
motorcycle_make: Suzuki
motorcycle_type: Standard
Comment: I highly recommend this ride. Take your time and enjoy the curves, the trees, the cows, the pastures and the blue sky. You'll think you are 1000 miles from civilization.
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Reviewed by Guest on September 6, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Jonathan
motorcycle_year: 1994
motorcycle_make: Kawasaki
motorcycle_type: Sport-Touring
Comment: This is a great ride through some beautiful rural Florida scenery. It's a nice two hour getaway from commercial areas.
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Reviewed by Guest on August 23, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: John
motorcycle_year: 2006
motorcycle_make: Yamaha
motorcycle_type: Sport-Touring
Comment: I rode the entire route again recently. The scenery is great and the rural nature of the ride is what makes it enjoyable. The section through the Green Swamp preserve does have some road repair that has been done, but it is not bad at all if you are riding at a reasonable pace. This is not a road on which you should pretend you are Valentino Rossi. If you are looking for a nice getaway from traffic and civilization, this ride is worth taking.
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Reviewed by Guest on May 31, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: PoolisCool
motorcycle_year: 2007
motorcycle_make: Kawasaki
motorcycle_type: Cruiser
Comment: This route while it used to be descent has too many patches in the road (GREEN POND RD) and loose Tar on the twisties be careful it has changed drastically from my first trip down it...
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Reviewed by Guest on February 13, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: black widow
motorcycle_year: 2009
motorcycle_make: Ducati
motorcycle_type: Sport
Comment: thanks for the route information! To think we almost left the bikes at home. Instead we spent several days riding north Florida. This particular route was very enjoyable; good scenery and some twisties as promised. Although the highway dept had patched several potholes in the twisty parts and left patches of gravel in the turns. Spent several hours riding, meeting some on the locals and trying not to blow up the speed limit too bad.
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Reviewed by Guest on February 3, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Kpoliot
motorcycle_year: 2009
motorcycle_make: BMW
motorcycle_type: Sport-Touring
Comment: Proceed with extreme caution when riding on Rockridge Rd. The road is in very poor condition now with sections of lose asphalt used for quick repaires in areas where the road appeared to have been washed out.
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Reviewed by Guest on October 23, 2009 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Tom
motorcycle_year: 2005
motorcycle_make: Honda
motorcycle_type: Touring
Comment: When On SR50 about 2 miles east of 471 you can get on CR772 which parallels SR50 for about 4miles before rejoining SR50. It is a more enjoyable twisty road. You can complete the loop by going north on the Old Lakeland Highway just before entering Zephyrhills from SR54. This will take you into Dade City where there are antique shops and such. they also have a pretty big car show the first saturday of every month.
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Reviewed by Guest on August 6, 2009 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: erok011
motorcycle_year: 2004
motorcycle_make: Suzuki
motorcycle_type: Sport-Touring
Comment: Not bad Fl riding. Some great twists off of Green Pond rd, and some decent sweepers before that. I plan to go back and ride more aggresively next time.
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Reviewed by Guest on January 20, 2009 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: CR
motorcycle_year: 2006
motorcycle_make: Honda
motorcycle_type: Cruiser
Comment: Great route. Our group took this little trip last weekend. COLD. But still a great ride.
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Reviewed by Guest on January 9, 2009 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Stasha
motorcycle_year: 1982
motorcycle_make: Yamaha
Comment: My husband and I took this ride for his 45th birthday on Jan. 4 and it was an outstanding day and ride. The roads were excellent and the weather was perfect--not too hot, not too cool, and crystal clear blue skies! Thanks for the recommendation John. It was great!
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Reviewed by Guest on December 29, 2008 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Mike
motorcycle_year: 2007
motorcycle_make: Kawasaki
motorcycle_type: Touring
Comment: Took the route yesterday with a friend. It is one of the best routes I have ever taken in Florida. The scenery is great, the back roads are twisty and very rural. I'm saving this route in the GPS for future rides.
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Reviewed by Guest on December 23, 2008 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Paul Williams
motorcycle_year: 2008
motorcycle_make: Kawasaki
motorcycle_type: Cruiser
Comment: This is a Great ride I haven't completed it all just found this site but I have ridden part of it through the Green Swamp area on numerous occasions it is where me and the wife head to get away from it all.
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Reviewed by Guest on December 15, 2008 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Gary Baughn
motorcycle_year: 1984
motorcycle_make: Honda
motorcycle_type: Standard
Comment: Just rode the tour with John who created it, and it is everything as he described . . . lots of wide open country with no traffic. This is a very nice relaxing ride and is well worth it.
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Reviewed by Guest on November 11, 2008 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Lisa
motorcycle_year: 1998
motorcycle_make: Suzuki
motorcycle_type: Other
Comment: My husband, brother and I took this tour and it was well worth every mile. There is a lot of farm land so we saw cows, chickens and pigs. There were plenty of curves and to top it off we had the perfect weather.
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