The plan was to spend the day State Parking in the Tampa area. I had the whole day mapped at but as in most days of State Parking, the plan changed. While I was on my way to the first park on my list I noticed a sign for Hillsborough River State Park, a park I somehow overlooked while mapping out my day. I immediately decided to follow the signs to that park and I could not have been more thrilled by my decision.
I got out of the car and spotted the Fort Foster display. Although I found it interesting, I wanted to spend my time exploring in nature. At that point I decided to let the park guide me through. I meandered around that park for hours. I walked along the waters edges and found rapids, in Florida. They were strong too. I wondered if people could actually raft on them but it did not seem likely. I found a constructed walkway to follow that had a couple of fun bridges on it and followed it until I got distracted and veered off, not being able to find my way back to it.
That might have been the point mother nature shifted the trails because I got a little ‘confused’ before finding my way to the car. In that confusion I was led to the biggest Cypress tree I had ever seen and another really cool suspension bridge leading to a whole other side of the park. I only made it the the end of that bridge but I did not step off to continue my exploration. At that point I knew if I went any further my whole day would be spend in that awesome park. Although that would have made me happy, I still had a few other parks to see while I was in that part of the state. I left that morning longing for more and I couldn’t wait to get back and fill that craving.
Before you visit, make sure you check out the parks website for all of the up-to-date park information: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/hillsborough-river-state-park
