Starkey Wilderness Preserve – Mixed Surfaces Ride
January 24, 2026. Wheels roll by 9:00am.
Location: 10500 Wilderness Park Blvd., New Port Richey. From the environmental education center, follow the main park road appx. 0.75 mi. to MTB Parking Lot #10.
ATB/ MTB recommended, or gravel bike with wider (45mm+) tires. Join the SWAMP Club for this appx 40-mile mixed surfaces ride. This will be a moderately paced challenging ride which will include 75% unpaved trails (gravel, grass, double-track, single-track, some sand) and 25% pavement (paved bike trails, sidewalks, and roads). Many sections of the route are slow going, wild, and potentially overgrown, so be prepared for difficult/ rugged stretches. Elevation change? Flat as a pancake.
In 1937, Jay B. Starkey, Sr. and his partners, the Cunningham Brothers, purchased 16,000 acres of land which they developed as a cattle ranch and timber operation. Even in those early days, many miles of dirt roads crossed the ranch, connecting to various historic dwellings, farm buildings, rivers and streams, and other natural areas. What are the chances that these families or their friends rode bicycles on the old dirt roads at Starkey Ranch? After all, two-inch wide balloon tires had just been invented by Schwinn in the 1930s, so there is a possibility – All-terrain bikes from almost 100 years ago! Fast forward to the present, Jay B. Starkey's grandson, Trey Starkey and his wife, County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, are current SWAMP Club members and were extremely helpful in getting the bike trails approved and built!
By 1975, the Starkey Family had donated several hundred acres of land to SWFWMD. The property later became the 18,000-acre Starkey Wilderness Preserve, comprised of Starkey Wilderness Park, Serenova Tract, and the Anclote River Ranch Tract. The preserve, co-managed by SWFWMD and Pasco County, was dedicated in 1996 and opened to the public in 2001. After years of advocacy by key SWAMP Club leaders, the Club was given permission in 2014 to develop mountain bike trails at Starkey. Volunteers including Ron Zajac (SWAMP Club President at the time), Raymond “Rudy” Miller, and others were instrumental in the burgeoning days of trail design and activation.
The overall Starkey landscape consists of pine flatwoods, cypress domes, sandhill, scrub, and a very large (appx 6,000 acres) wetland ecosystem. The preserve is a natural buffer for both the Anclote and Pithlachascotee Rivers, and is also a regional wellfield, important for drinking water supply for the greater Tampa Bay area.
The trailhead has bathrooms and water. Bring hydration, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray, tools and tubes/ flat repair. Ride guides and local trail gurus, Ron Zajac and Gary Cors, are active Starkey trail volunteers and will be guiding this ride. Rob DeGraaf, who will assist on the ride, is a Senior Environmental Scientist and past author of Fat Tire Favorites, Guides to West-Central and South Florida Off-Road Bicycling books, and a past director of the Florida Off-Road Bicycling Association (FORBA).
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