Cypress Creek Nature Preserve (Tampa) - Tampa, Florida

Diane H.

This trail is nice, dog friendly on a leash! Woodsy walk with more tree cover or full sun options to walk different trails. We have seen armadillos frequently before dusk time. Parking is very confusing initially, you have to walk along the road to get to the trail head entrance a quart mile away from where you park. It parking lot has trash cans and a picnic table which is a cute resource. I don’t remember any bathroom porta potty option. Found an abandoned shed out there which was kinda creepy initially and I’ve always bumped into another person/walking groups each time I’ve visited.

John W.

Went hiking with the Florida Trail Association - Suncoast Chapter at the Cypress Creek Nature Preserve. Our host was Shaun. We all had fun on a 3-mile hike.

Katie F.

This trail was very confusing to follow and unmarked at forks in the path so we had no idea which way to go. This ended up with us getting lost, when we thought we were heading back towards the car (following the map) we ended up going the completely wrong direction because there are no markings. Don’t recommend.

Linda E.

The trail is beautiful albeit sort of bumpy and unpaved. Beautiful nature and refreshing. I would go again.

Nicole T.

My husband and I went to this walking trail this morning and enjoyed it. We put in the address Listed on this preserve and it didn’t take us to a parking lot. We could see an entrance on the right side that entered us into the park reserve but there was no parking available. We drove a little further up and saw alisted on this preserve and it didn’t take us to a parking lot. We could see a entrance on the right side that entered us into the park reserve but there was no parking available. We drove a little further up and saw a middle school/church and decided to park there. this wasn’t far from the entrance we saw so that worked for us, but we were a bit nervous about parking our car there. When we got to the sign showing the preserve, we walked in and immediately saw a trail with the color red so we started on that. at the entrance we entered in it appeared. The red trail was the only trail available so we are wondering if at another entrance into this preserve there are other trails. We ended up walking around the red trail twice, including going down a few other unmarked trails and it equal 3.7 miles. The walk is very enjoyable through open forest type trails. The trails are distinct dirt/low cut grass. As long as you follow the red trail you can’t get lost and you’re not walking through any high grass. we only saw a handful of people throughout our walk, which we love that serenity part of it. I will have to do more research on if there’s another entrance with different color trails to explore. During rainy season, I can definitely see that the trails will be flooded in some areas so beware of that but this time of year the weather is beautiful and the trails were pretty dry for the most part.

Ben S.

A very nice set of trails tucked away in between the 75 and 275 highways. Pet friendly, but not for Biking.

You enter the parking off of New Tampa Blvd onto Lizards Trail Rd and then you need to walk the sidewalk to the preserve hiking entrance. The parking lot is small but probably adequate for most of the daily traffic. There are some covered picnic tables, a bike rack, and trash cans as well as the park info kiosk. The walk to the entrance is about a quarter mile but unfortunately part of it does not have a good sidewalk and requires you to walk on Lizards Trail Rd road. Once you get to the entrance off of the New Tampa Blvd sidewalk you are able to connect to a boardwalk which leads to 3 trails (red, yellow, and blue). These trails are all large enough for a service vehicle (most of them you can see the tire tracks from the vehicles) and they don’t have any obstructions other than mud/water here and there. Definitely not recommended to visit this preserve immediately after a rainstorm as it would be a muddy mess.

The three trails in total (including the walk from the parking lot) is listed as being 3.22 miles but you will easily make it about 4 miles roundtrip if you do all the loops. While there are some color markers on the trails, there are multiple confusing areas where the trails meet with other service roads that look the same, so be on the lookout for more color markers each time you pass these intersections. Also the trails are shady is some areas but open in others, so sun protection (and bug spray) are recommended.

Paul L.

The marking and the maps of the parc are simple a catastrophe. The trails itself are plenty and nicely maintained but most of them end in nowhere or on a closed gate. Since no mape is available besides it's 3 major trails why can't the county at least mark the other trails as "not continuous" .

Yvonne D.

Once inside, the park is lovely. Lots of wildflowers, butterflies, birds. Decent biodiversity. However, getting to the entrance from the parking lot is very off-putting. It's quite a hike on asphalt with thunderous traffic noise nearby. Signage could be better.