Hiking Hillsborough River State Park in Florida
Hiking Hillsborough River State Park was quite an awesome adventure traveling through the tropical terrain that is Florida! Although our video in this post wasn’t able to capture the entire adventure due to some technical difficulties, Deanna’s photos help tell the story!
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
So just as the video started out, we got into the parking lot during a fairly foggy mysterious looking day. This is one of those days I would expect an alligator to jump at us unexpectedly from the swamps, but maybe I’ve watched too many movies.
–> Hillsborough River State Park Trail Map <–
There is quite the beautiful drive just getting into the park itself! With the tropical views engulfing the surroundings it is hard not to wonder what is lurking in the thick vegetation.
RAPIDS NATURE TRAIL
At the beginning of the video I was joking about the likeliness that there were actual rapids located in the river flowing through Hillsborough River State Park, but turns out the water moves pretty swiftly. When I picture rapids, I just imagine a bunch of water plowing through extruding rocks, but apparently rapids really just means a turbulent part of the water. So, you win this time Florida.
INFO REGARDING THE AREA
All of this information is located on the Hillsborough River State Park website, but slapping it in here for your convenience.
HOURS – 8 am – Sundown every dang day
FEES – $6 per vehicle
LOCATION – 15402 US 301 N. Thonotosassa FL 33592
PHONE – 813-987-6771 or 813-326-5867
CAMPING!? – Yes – Make a Reservation
There is plenty to do here including hike, kayaking, camping, horseback riding, bicycling, and if you just want to chill with your food you can picnic as well.
PRETTY SWEET BRIDGE
Not going to lie, I am still frustrated I lost all my video footage around this awesome bridge and on the other side of the river! This park is completely beautiful and we really enjoyed hiking around it. On one side of the bridge there is a sign (not pictured above or below for that matter) measuring the level of the river and it looks as though this thing can flood quite a bit.
If you check out that sign, notice where the dirty part is (kind of like checking the dipstick for your vehicle’s oil). I imagine this river really does turn into quite some rapids if the water level gets up that high again.
Luckily in this photo I didn’t actually fall into the river at Hillsborough RIVER State Park, but Deanna did manage to make it look like I was quite a bit over the river itself. Did I mention that we had a blast visiting the park?
WHAT WE LEARNED WHILE VISITING
- Hillsborough River State Park steals footage out of your GoPro.
- Rapids Nature Trail does actually contain some views of some rapids.
- This is a DOG friendly state park and Blaze highly enjoyed it.
- The camping actually looks really nice and we will have to check it out next time in the area.
- If you don’t want to hike, the little scenic drive around the park is still beautiful to check out granted you might not get your $6 worth of fun.
OTHER FLORIDA ADVENTURES
6 Fun Things To Do at Walt Disney World’s Epcot
Exploring Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park
Exploring Lake Louisa State Park
Campground Review of Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort
NOTE FROM THE WRITER
I would sincerely appreciate you sharing this with your friends and family so they can too see all these amazing views from around Hillsborough River State Park in central Florida. Maybe you will inspire them to get out there and explore just as we hope to inspire you all. 🙂
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Also be sure to check out The Harvest Skillet when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!
Adventure On!
