Explore the Popular West Orange Trail

Run, walk, bike, skate, or even ride a horse while you explore Central Florida’s popular West Orange Trail. The West Orange Trail is a paved rail-trail that stretches 22 miles from Winter Garden to Apopka. There’s something for everyone (from the nature lover to the foodie) to enjoy while exploring the West Orange Trail.

The West Orange Trail has multiple stations(outposts) that start at the beginning of the trail can be found throughout, all the way until the end. Many of them have restrooms, picnic tables, and other highlights that are a blast to explore. The trail also goes through some points of interest in some of Central Florida’s historic little towns.

How the Erica Diaz Team Explores the West Orange Trail!

Since the West Orange Trail is 22 miles in its entirety with many amazing stops and experiences along the way.  The Erica Diaz Team suggest breaking it down into bite size day adventures. This not only allows you to enjoy each highlight along the trail in more detail, it gives you lots of adventures to look forward to!

In this article, we’re sharing our favorite sections of the trail with you! The best part is… It highlights one of our go to places, the charming downtown area of Winter Garden!

Discover Downtown Winter Garden While Exploring The West Orange Trail

While the West Orange Trail from start to finish is 22 miles long it can easily be broken up into pieces fitting for a great day adventure. One of our favorite sections to explore along the trail starts at Killarney Station and goes to Winter Garden Station. There are some fantastic stops along the way for hiking, observing Florida’s natural beauty, photo ops, animal encounters and more. The best part is you’ll wind up in Downtown Winter Garden where you can enjoy lunch at a local favorite restaurant before heading back to the starting point and calling it a day.

The trek from Killarney Station to Winter Garden Station is 5 miles each way. With there being multiple stops along the way to relax and refresh, it’s a doable bike ride for almost any level of biker. You could also walk, run or skate, but we suggest biking! Bring your own bike and gear or rent it from Bikes & Blades.

Start at Killarney Station

Killarney Station is a great place to start when setting out to explore the West Orange Trail. First of all, it serves as a trailhead for the beginning of the trail and second it has a bike rental shop. There are only two stations along the trail that offer bike rentals and one of them is West Orange Trail Bikes & Blades located right at Killarney Station. While you can walk, run, or skate, the trail, we highly recommend biking for a one-of-a-kind experience.

West Orange Trail Bikes & Blades is OPEN! They are following the state’s health and safety guidelines and continuing operation. Staff are sanitizing all the bikes after each use with alcohol wipes. It’s also mandatory for customers to follow group size and social distancing guidelines.

New to biking? No worries, the experienced staff at Bikes & Blades is there to pair you with the best bicycle for you and your ridding needs.

Hours of Operation:

Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm

Saturday & Sunday & Holidays 730am – 5pm

Rental Pricing:

$9 per hour or $35 for the whole day!

 Stop #1 Oakland Nature Preserve

After leaving Killarney Station head to your left (don’t worry if you go the wrong way, you’ll figure it out quickly as there are signs announcing that you’re leaving the West Orange Trail.) As you head down the trail, you’ll first come to the Oakland Nature Preserve. This is a fantastic place to mark on your map as a stopping point. If you’re on bikes, there’s a covered station where you can park your bike for a bit to explore.

It’s easy to spend hours at this stopping point. Inside the Oakland Nature Preserve there’s 6 hiking trails (each under a mile long), an education center with a museum, turtle exhibit, restrooms, and more. There’s also a long boardwalk that is considered the highlight of the park. It winds through trees until the end were there’s a doc overlooking the lake. You’ll find picture perfect spots throughout and possibly a gator too!

Stop #2 Oakland

The little historic town of Oakland is always a favorite part of the trail. Don’t be to quick to cruise through the town though, it is a peaceful and scenic part of the trail. There are also some great town features to view as you pass by, including historic Town Hall, a water fountain, and water tower. Oakland Park is another peaceful place to take a break. The huge Oak trees provide plenty of shade to cool down.

Stop #3 Tidenville Outpost

The Tidenville Outpost has its very own secret garden. Okay, it’s not actually a secret garden, it’s a butterfly garden, but being off to the side, it can easily be missed. It might be small, but go ahead and take a stroll through it, you’ll be amazed at how many butterflies there are to see. While not always ideal, there is a Port-O-Let at this outpost if needed.

Stop #4 Winter Garden

Now that you’ve worked up an appetite running, walking, or biking the West Orange Trail it’s a good thing Downtown Winter Garden is the next and last stop of this adventure. This next part might be the hardest part of the whole day… Deciding which delicious local restaurant to eat at! You can always start at Plant Street Market and grab an appetizer from one or two of the vendors inside. Inside you’ll find options like chevice, BBQ, pizza, donuts, mac n cheese, juice bare, sushi, and more! Then you can head down Plant Street and enjoy a meal at another restaurant. Options for food in Downtown Winter Garden are Pizza, Tai, Mexican, Hotdogs, Burgers, and more. Basically, if you have a craving there’s a restaurant to satisfy it!

There’s no need to split right after you eat. There are other things to see and do while you’re here. Stroll down one side of Plant Street and up the other. Along the way pop into the local boutiques. While you might not want to buy anything right then because you’ll have to haul it back to Killarney Station, you can go back once you have your car.

The Central Florida Railroad Museum is also in Downtown Winter Garden. We highly suggest you plan to stop by and check it out. Sections of the West Orange Trail were once part of the railroad. Admission is free (there is a donation box) and the volunteers are incredibly knowledgeable and love to share the railroad’s history!

Explore all of The West Orange Trail

If you’re up for a biking challenge, then give it a go and do the entire 22 mile trail in one day (44 miles round trip.) However, if you’d like to break the trail into multiple day adventures, we suggest taking a look at the map and making a game plan. We hope you give our Winter Garden trail experience a try too. There are so many great stops along the trail, it’s all about finding your own adventure!

West Orange Trail Safety & Guidelines

Whether you’re an advanced athlete or simply hitting the trail to enjoy Florida’s natural beauty, it’s always important to follow the guidelines set by Orange County Parks and Recreation. This ensures your safety as well at others.

Say Hydrated While on the West Orange Trail

Florida summers are notorious for being HOT and Humid! So, when you’re out on the trail it’s important to stay hydrated. Please keep in mind because of Covid-19 all of the water fountains along Orange County Parks’ trails, and stations are currently shut off. We highly recommend you bring water for yourself as well as your dog.

We know it’s not always ideal to lug water bottles around while you’re trying to enjoy a bike ride, scenic walk, or stroll with your pup. Here are some great options to ensure you have enough water and freedom from water bottles to enjoy the West Orange Trail. We know you’re going to fall in love with these options and not even miss the water fountains.

• Hydration Pack – This is a nifty little backpack style water carrier. There’s a removable water bladder that’s inside of the pack. Simply take it out, fill it up, and put it back in. A tube is connected to the end of the bladder, so you can wear the pack the whole time on your back. When it’s time for a drink just grab the tube and drink up! The hydration packs get even better! They typically have pocket too, creating the perfect spot for keys, phones, or even snacks. There’s many different brands out there, just hop on amazon and type in Hydration Pack and an assortment of sizes and brand will populate.
• Waist Pack – While the backpack style is great for some, it may not be your preference, and that is okay. There are also waist packs, that go around your waist like a belt. They have holders on each side where you can place your water bottle. These carry removable water bottles. Waist packs come with the option of pockets, creating the perfect space for keys, phones, and snacks!
• Collapsible Water Bowl – This is for your furry friend! They get just as thirsty as we do. Collapsible water bowls are great because they pop up into a bowl, so your dog can easily drink up. Many of these come with clips on them, so they can clip easily to your hydration pack or waist pack while you’re on an adventure!

Trail Safety

While on the trail, in addition to staying hydrated it’s important to be trail smart. There are guidelines that have been put in place to ensure everyone on the West Orange Trail is safe while having a great time! These guidelines are those of Orange County, we did not come up with them.

• Trails are only open from sunrise to sunset.
• Always plan your rout before hitting the trail and tell someone what your plan is.
• Like when you were a kid, use the buddy system. Hey, who doesn’t enjoy company anyways!
• Have a fully charged cell phone. This is ideal for accessing trail maps, as well as in case of an emergency.
• Pay attention to your surroundings.
• Only keep one headphone in so you can hear, or better yet, listen to your music on speaker.
• Wear a helmet. Children 16 and younger are required by law to wear them, and it’s highly encouraged for others.
• Bicyclist must follow ALL traffic laws of the State of Florida.
• When on a bike make sure to clearly warn others on bikes or walking when you intend to pass them.
• Whether running, walking, biking, etc. stay to the right unless passing someone.
• There are yellow Emergency Response System Markers along the trail. In case of an emergency use them to pinpoint your location.
• In an emergency dial 911.
• For information and all non-emergency issues dial 311.
• Bicyclists, skaters, and skateboarders must maintain full control while riding and yield to walkers and runners.
• It is prohibited to bike, skate, or skateboard on any fixtures, stay on the trail.
• Pets have to stay on a leash at all times.
• Owners must clean up after their pets.
• Alcoholic beverages of any kind are prohibited.
• Only electric mobility devices for people with disabilities are allowed. No other types of motorized devices are prohibited other than that of law enforcement and park maintenance.

 

Erica Diaz Team – Explore the Popular West Orange Trail

The West Orange Trail is a 22 mile long trail that over 50,000 locals and visitors alike enjoy each month here in Central Florida! With ideal weather all year round, the trail provides a great place for day adventures. If you’re considering moving to Winter Garden and love being outside, there are some wonderful communities that the West Orange Trail runs through!

Are you ready to see what homes are available close to the West Orange Trail? Contact the Erica Diaz Team today we have a great variety of amazing homes for sale and we know there’s one perfect for you. Plus, having a real estate agent by your side during the home searching and buying process will ensure things go as smooth as possible.