Ocala Mountain Bike Association

I rode yesterday from the Santos Trailhead to the 484 and back. My memory is beyond horrible, so I dont remember the exact location, but I believe it was after the landbridge and before 49th ave. But I defenitly could be wrong. I just remember a huge area that looked like all the trees had been knocked down and the trail turned into a wide dirt/gravel trail or road and there were other intersection "roads". I thought maybe I stumbled off the mountain bike trail some how, but there were blue markers on this dirt road.

Is this the horse park area? Did I miss a turn somewhere and wasn't supposed to be there?

Sounds like you found the recently re-opened Christmas section. I do believe that the field was cleared as part of a conservation project.

This section was logged as part of a Florida Scrub Jay restoration project. Scrub jays live in the scrub, hence the name. They take down all vegetation and keep it below 15' high by burning or clearing every few years. Evidently, the birds of prey feed on the scrub jays from higher perches, so those are removed. Since that section was sandy anyway, OGT kindly put down limerock on the route OMBA laid out across the barren land so that it wasn't a sand pit forever and ever. The compacted limerock will at least allow us to cross that area fairly quickly to get back into the tree cover.