complete agenda - Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Unit Name: Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail
Acres: 162.76
Description:
Managing
Agency:
DEP-OGT
Current Management Plan
Approved:
346
9/5/2003
The Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail (SMT) follows the alignment of the historic
Tallahassee Railroad, the longest running railroad in the State’s history. The SMT is a paved, multi
use trail that is 16 miles in length and supports bicycling, skating, hiking and equestrian activities
with 13 miles of separated, canopied horse trail. Picnic and playground activities are also provided
along the trail.
Accomplishments:
Resource Management:
Removing exotic plant species from the 60-foot wide SMT trail corridor is the greatest
management challenge on SMT. Constant reintroduction of invasive plants from adjacent
land requires constant treatment, rendering the typical “strike” method of invasive
treatment unsustainable. Staff has a native wildflower program underway and dozens of
native trees have been planted along the trail.
Visitor Services:
There are currently two trailheads, the Main Trailhead located at the 0-mile marker just
south of Capital Circle Southeast, and the Wakulla Station Trailhead located at the 9-mile
marker, just north of SR 267. The Wakulla Station Trailhead includes a large accessible
playground that is designed for children of all ages and abilities. In addition to thousands of
cars per month parking to use the playground and other trailhead amenities, this formerly
remote and underused trailhead has seen a ten-fold increase of vehicles parking to access
the trail. Also due to the popularity of the playground, two new picnic pavilions were
constructed, each seating up to 39 visitors and the existing picnic shelter was updated to
seat 32 visitors. Unsheltered picnic seating is available for an additional 22 visitors. To
increase use of the southern portion of the trail, a new St. Marks River Trailhead will be
constructed late 2010/early 2011, just west of the southern terminus of the trail in St.
Marks.
Capital Improvements:
Construction is in progress to resurface and widen the aging and often deteriorating paved
trail. During this process, the new paved width will increase from eight to the standard 12foot
width. Progressing from south to north, the first seven miles of the trail is scheduled
for completion by December 2010 (Mile 16 to Mile 9). Construction on the remaining nine
miles will begin in 2011. As part of the ongoing project, the first several hundred feet of
trail south of the Main Trailhead will be widened to 14 or 16 feet to accommodate large
events, which attract up to 350 participants. Additional improvements underway include:
- Wakulla Station Trailhead construction: Restrooms, equestrian parking, maint. shop.
- St. Marks River Trailhead construction: Parking, riverwalk, observation tower.
- Horse watering troughs will be installed in each of the three trailheads.
- Trailside improvements: Thirteen additional shaded rest benches (one per mile).
- Four vault toilets will be installed along the trail (one in Leon County and three in
Wakulla County).