Enviornmental Center

Enviornmental Center

	Enviornmental Center
Location:	Florida
Nearest Town:	Winter Sprinngs
Directions to Trailhead:	From I-4, exit 50 east (Lake Mary Blvd) to 17-92, take a right, go to SR419 take a left, go about 1/2 mile. Parking is on the right in front of the ball fields.
Trail Description:	There are a variety of trails here. Some are more technical than others. A few small drops, very little sugar sand. Some parts extremely slippery when wet.
Trail Length:	6-7 miles if all trails ridden
Trail Type:	Singletrack
Skill Level:	Intermediate
Submitted By:

Tyson from Lake Mary Date: March 13, 2003 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: Only one on Soldier's Creek , go counter clockwise to avoid wannabe racers tryin' to mix it up . Directions: 17-92 , turn on 419 (right next to Seminole Power Sports) , go down 1/2 mile , E-center on left , Soldier's Creek on right by ball fields . Other recommended trails in the same area: Can't say much , ride Soldier's Creek all the time and I'm too busy to go to Santos or Hard Rock . Snow hill is alright if you're into XC/race type stuff .
Review: E-center: flat , fast , muddy , boring . Only good thing is that if you're with a beginner , they won't break anything . Boardwalk into lake jessup is cool . Soldier's Creek: Good stuff . Anybody can ride because most all obsticles are avoidable except for the "turtle" log pile on the back side and maybe a small log jump or two . Obsticles are pretty good and getting better . Kudos to Bob for the wheelie drop over the stump , can't do it yet (took a beating yesterday) but looks cool . Need more bb clearance for the skinny a-frame though . Mostly locals ride cuz it's so small (1.5 mile loop , few variations) . Do us a favor if you don't like the obsticles at Soldier's Creek , don't damage them or move them , ride the e-center . This side is being taken over by some freeride type obsticles , if you build obsticles , try not to infringe on the basic trail , leave it clear for newbie's and racer's . There are plenty of places to put stunts that won't screw up the trail . I'll be out there one or two days a month trying to build new stuff or maintain the old stuff . Lend a helping hand if you can . WARNING: Get's rained out fairly quickly .	Overall Rating:

Tyson from Lake Mary Date: March 13, 2003 Trail Ridden: Please Select
Recommended Route: 17-92 to 419 , go down 1/2 mile . Park at ball-fields (trailhead is on left , near the road if looking oposite of fields) , parking on e-center side can be sketchy . Lot's of flamers on e-center side . Other recommended trails in the same area: Snow Hill is kind of boring I think , but if it's your thing ....
Review: E-center side : Flat and fast , can get muddy real quick , boardwalk goes into lake jessup . Easy , scenic type ride for beginners or those looking to get off the streets in their neighborhood . Soldier's Creek/Ballfield: Technical stuff , small loop though (1.5 miles I think) , great for locals . Some log piles , wheelie-drops . A good A-frame on the back side . Good for intermediate riders , beginners can get around obstacles (why would you want to?) . Freeride type stunts constantly being built and rebuilt . Whoever is building stuff on the trail and maintaining it , get in contact with me . Me and a few friend's would like to help . Kudos to Bob on that wheelie-drop off the stump , can't do it yet (fell yesterday and got some good scrapes) but I will soon . I need more BB clearance for that skinny a-frame right before it though . WARNING: Please do not damage the obsticles and stunts if you don't like them . Alot of work has been done to make and maintain them . If you don't like the stunts on Soldier's Creek , ride around it (there's many an oppurtunity to ride around the stunts except for the log pile on the backside which is fairly easy) or go ride the E-center side .	Overall Rating:

Casey Jones from Winter Springs Date: September 5, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: if its wet, the ballfield side can be underwater in spots. the trail on the east side of 419 south of the creek is always dry. Other recommended trails in the same area: snow hill-although most good trails by the river are underwater
Review: i've started riding again after getting fat for a couple years, and since this is my local trail, i've decided to maintain it. from 419 to 17-92 and back has had all the brush trimmed out of the trail. i got some wood and rebuilt the bridge at 17-92, but with all this rain, the creek is about 8-12 inches over the bridge, but it is still rideable. it really cools off your feet when you go across it. i'll be working on putiing logs in the muddy sections to fill them in, and the section that is completely underwater in the clearing will soon be re-routed with a bridge. i'll also be clearing brush from the east trails soon.	Overall Rating:

dave dennison from orlando , FL Date: May 26, 2002 Trail Ridden: Please Select
Recommended Route: take SR 17-92 to 419 then park in the ballfield all the way to the left in the grass the e-center is across the street Other recommended trails in the same area: snow hill bring lots of watter and enjoy the sugar sand think of it as a challange
Review: 2 seperate parts of this place, on the ball field side of the trail a short nasty technical loop its all the way to the left of the ball field by the bridge a river runs throught the middle of the trail. this is some great stuff nothing like it in orlando log ramps, cool bridges, mounds, some roots. great trainning. and across the street is a bunch of trails to explore not very technical so you can go pretty fast and there is miles of it back there, good cool down or warm up, for the other nasty trail. !there are some bordwalks to check out as well, slippery when wet really watch out! the only down side is mud when its wet, also once i got way back on a muck trail with mud 6 inches if you see any long peroids of mud turn back..... just trust me all in all its a few trails all in one spot and its in town, my girlfriend likes the e-center trails, i like to blast throught the stuff on the ball park side do about 3 laps around the nasty trail and see how you feel. people have really fixed up this place in the last few years, and to anyone who gave this trail a lame review..... obviously you never found the cool technical trail on the ballfield side check it out it fun. peace dave	Overall Rating:

Forge from Boynton Beach, Florida Date: May 25, 2002 Trail Ridden: Every few months
Recommended Route: Go in at the Soldier Creek side, near the parking lot; ride all the way 'round that then cross the street (and the railroad track) and do the (hillier, dryer) loop on that side. Then back out to the street and your car. Other recommended trails in the same area: Snow Hill, Bellview, Spruce Creek
Review: It's a great little set of trails for those that live in the area and don't want to trek out to Snow Hill or Bellview. The Soldier Creek side (where the baseball fields are) is kinda technical but very fun for beginning or intermediate riders. It also gets very soggy during the wet season. There are more trails on the side where the actual "Environmental Center" is; the ones nearer the railroad track are speedy with some nice Florida-style ups and downs, not to mention a nifty log pile or two. Further back there's a section that goes through the swampiest part, towards the shore of Lake Jesup. Those can be interesting too as long as it's not really muddy. A couple years back we had a really wet season and the whole thing was compeltely under water (like, four feet of water) for months. Summertime you'd better paint yourself with Deep Woods Off or the bloodsuckers will drain you completely. They're so thick sometimes, you can't help but breathe them in. Yummy. But jeez, this is Florida after all. Oh and once in a while somebody we call Chainsaw Bob comes through and tears up one or two of the most interesting obstacles. That part sucks, but I suppose it does make it more accessible to the beginnners.	Overall Rating:

CLAM from Winter Springs Date: March 11, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a year
Recommended Route: Other recommended trails in the same area: Snow hill, if you are too lazy or just couldn't be bothered to travel to better trails.
Review: I gave this trail three stars, simply because it is a great spot for early stage novice riders. If you live in the area and you are just starting out, this trail can give you the skills you need to move onto bigger & better trails. AVOID WEARING SPANDEX/TIGHTS - THERE PLENTY OF PILLOW BITERS IN THE AREA, THAT MAY TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY!!!	Overall Rating:

Wade Simmons from Orlando Date: February 9, 2002 Trail Ridden: Please Select
Recommended Route: Waste not thy time on this wacked $hit Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: Details of this trail is that it BLOWS! Alternative for riding the street this hi-ram says,c'mon you tellin me you would put on your biking clothes load up your trusty steed and drive out to this garbage of a place, and then have to load back up your bike,drive home clean and lube your beast,..............ALL FOR A TRAIL THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE JUST A LITTLE BETTER THAN RIDING THE STREET! F-THAT! Thats not why I bought a mountain bike, and dont give me that bull$hit about moving to Utah. If I wanted to ride on the street I would have bought a road bike. The fact is that some people dont have the gemstones to do some real drops and technical riding. So these people find (alternative to road) trails that require none of the above, and then get pissed when people state there opinion about there (sux,sux,sux) trail.	Overall Rating:

hi-ram from Orlando FL Date: January 28, 2002 Trail Ridden: Please Select
Recommended Route: Across the street Other recommended trails in the same area: Santos, Hard Rock, Razorback(Reddick is the name of a town Freaknast)
Review: This trail is basically Orlando's alternative to riding the street. If you live in Orlando and cant drive to Ocala every day it's a great place to get some conditioning. There are no serious downhills, it's pretty flat, with some obstacles like logs and bridges to climb over. if you don't care about things like improving your pedal stroke, or finding optimum cadence, go jump off your garage or some bleachers. If you don't like having to pedal, and just like going downhill, stay in Ocala, or move to Utah. Florida has no mountains. If you take the time to post a bad review on this trail, at least explain why! sux sux sux doesn't tell me anything about this trail. I would have rated this trail a 3 but i'm giving it a 5 to make up for the guys who think they're Wade Simmons	Overall Rating:

fReAkNaSt from Altamonte Springs Date: January 20, 2002 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Dont Bother Other recommended trails in the same area: Hard Rock, Santos, Reddick
Review: I had more fun riding the log and bleachers in the parking lot, than this piece of $hit. I would have rather gone shoppin with the wife than ride this garbadge. TWO THUMBS DOWN! MAJOR SUCKAGE! Blew Blew Blew Blew Blew Blew Blew Blew Blew Blew Blew CHUNKS!	Overall Rating:

ludamann from orlando Date: January 20, 2002 Trail Ridden: Please Select
Recommended Route: Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: this trail suck, suck,suck and suck some more!!	Overall Rating:

Jeremy from Longwood, FL Date: January 14, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: The trail is designed to go counterclockwise around the creek. Several small sidetrails that either lead back the main trail or lead to peoples backyards. Other recommended trails in the same area: Snow hill isn't bad and its only about 30 mins from Orlando. I haven't found much a else in the area that is worth riding....I have found some real duds and the Environmental center isn't one of them.
Review: While this trail may not be worth driving a great distance to, it isn't a bad alternative for us locals to go for a quick ride without driving an hour or two. I like the bridges and the ride by the creek. I don't like to mounds of logs that some people have put up in the middle of trail for apparently no reason at all. I know they are meant to be an obstacle, but they really are quite silly.	Overall Rating:

Tommygun from Winter Park Date: January 10, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: Get there. Other recommended trails in the same area: Snohill
Review: Highly underrated and shunned by all good bike snobs who dont no any better. It is sad to see people put this trail down. If you dont like it ride somewhere else. Lots of good trails for an in town ride. Some muddy parts on the northeast side to avoid but the trails along the creek and back east of the rr tracks are great.	Overall Rating:

Rafael from Orlando Date: November 18, 2001 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Other recommended trails in the same area: bellview and razorback
Review: I rode this trail for the first time.Im used to going to santos and razorback.Unless I missed some technical parts, it was a pretty boring ride. If you are a good rider you might want to stay away from this trail.	Overall Rating:

bret from winter springs, FL Date: November 12, 2001 Trail Ridden: Every few months
Recommended Route: ride on the other side of the tracks now (opposite of baseball field) Other recommended trails in the same area: snowhill, santos
Review: someone's been working on this trail a lot, it's in my backyard so this is very exciting. Everyone come ride and build trail, this place is so much better then it used to be, just come and ride it with someone that knows the trail. It' could be like it used to be 5 years ago if we ride and work on it. Props to whoever has done this much so far. Lots of technical singletrack, doubletrack, at least 10 miles of trails if you know where to go. Go to the e-center instead of snowhill, it's so much better.	Overall Rating:

boofo yah from wionter pringas Date: December 31, 2000 Trail Ridden: Please Select
Recommended Route: go thier Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: watch for hobos and mofos	Overall Rating:

ALEX from ALTAMONTE, FL Date: October 21, 2000 Trail Ridden: Every few months
Recommended Route: park by the softball fields, do not park in the env. center as the trails on that side are flat and muddy. Other recommended trails in the same area: bellview santos good all around trail. snow hill tame but lots of trails. Locals only try behind the ballfield off douglas and north st in altamonte trail starts to the right of the entrance of the ball fields off north st when north dead ends, look hard and you will see it. short but we have lots of jumps and some good downhill coming off the ballfields. will be paved shortly so we do not know how the future holds on this treasure
Review: very short but technical, trail is well worn and is your typical backyard neighborhood trail. not much else to say except it is better than sitting on your butt. try it, you will either like it or not.	Overall Rating:

Hayden from Orlando Date: June 6, 2000 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: No need for directions. Its not worth driving to. Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: No offense intended to the people who ride this trail, but this is the worst place for mountain biking I have ever seen. I have been on almost all the trails in Florida and this one is by far the most boring. This trail is just a little more fun than riding on a paved road. If you want to ride some quality trails go to Ocala.	Overall Rating:

PAUL BUTTBLEED from KISSIMEE, FL Date: June 6, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: ALONG THE RIVER Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: GREAT PLACE TO RIDE BUT FULL OF GAY MEN. FLY THAT RAINBOW FLAG SO I WILL KNOW TO STAY AWAY!!!	Overall Rating:

Fuzzy from Deltona, Florida Date: April 21, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: Other recommended trails in the same area: Snow Hill road, Oviedo.
Review: The E-center goes with the weather. During the rainy season it can be muddy and slippery, but when it's dry it's an enjoyable ride. A couple of drops, some short mild climbs and plenty of roots to navigate. The log pyramid is a real challenge! Also, there is access to some paved nature trails, if you can find the right path to take. Overall a decent place to ride.	Overall Rating:

Sebastian from Winter Park, FL USA Date: April 21, 1999 Trail Ridden: Every few months
Recommended Route: I try to streatch it to the longest possible rout. I don't cut throught the cheassy shorts... Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: Last weekend I went to the E-center for the first time in about 6 or 7 months. I was surprised to see that the trail had been cleaned up and well maintained. The last time that I had been there, everything was grown over and I really didn't feel like doing more that one lap. On Sunday I met up with some friends and we ended up going to the E-center because we didn't feel like driving to Snow Hill. I didn't feel too excited, untill I got on the trail. It was a lot of fun and very fast with some tech sections... I want to thank the Trail Heads for their hard work maintaininf this traill :)	Overall Rating: