Felburn Park is an approximately 140-acre property owned by the private nonprofit Felburn Foundation and is leased to the state of Florida to manage as part of the Cross Florida Greenway. The park, located just east of U.S. 19 on the south side of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, has paved parking, potable water, several picnic pavilions and access to paved trails running east and west along the barge canal.
Heading west from the Felburn Park along the Withlacoochee Bay paved trail, several multi-use platforms are available for picnicking, taking a break or fishing in the barge canal. The Withlacoochee Bay trail continues westward for 5 miles from Felburn Park before it terminates at a scenic-overlook pavilion adjacent to where the barge canal channel enters the Gulf of Mexico.
Eastward from Felburn Park along the newer paved segment, trail users will cross between the approximately 30-acre freshwater Phil’s Lake (named after Phil Felburn, founder of the Felburn Foundation) and the brackish water Cross Florida Barge Canal. The trail continues eastward and climbs up a slight rise onto the top of the berm created by the construction of the canal. The trail ventures 1.25 miles east of Felburn Park before ending near the old Withlacoochee River channel where it was bifurcated by the barge canal.
In addition to paved trails at Felburn Park, several miles of mowed grass and natural surface trails circle the former lime-rock mining pit now known as Phil’s Lake. When the mine was operational, workers eventually hit the local groundwater table and freshwater began to seep into the pit. Eventually, pumping the water became too much to continue and the mining ceased. Phil’s Lake was the result, and numerous species of freshwater fish inhabit it.
Visitors in canoes, kayaks and other non-motorized craft are welcome to paddle and fish at the lake. Bank fishing is also possible in some locations. Catches may include largemouth bass, bluegill, catfish and tilapia.
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