You know that juncture on U.S. 301? When you usually take a right onto I-10 to get to Jax?
Yeah, that’s the place.
Where you usually turn off. Just before you get to Baldwin.
On Sunday I took my daughter to the Jax airport after we had a delightful visit with her at home in GNV.
And, as usual, on the way to the airport, I took that right turn off 301 and onto I-10 just before Baldwin.
I mean, who gives Baldwin a second thought?
It’s just a small town stuck on the edge of bustling Jax-Duval.
It used to be a railroad town. And to some extent it pretty much still is.
And the cluster of truck stops and fast food restaurants at the 301/I-10 juncture pretty much comprises the extent of the town’s economic development.
You might even say that Baldwin’s best days are behind it.
Still, on this trip back from Jax airport, upon getting off I-10 onto 301, I decided to hang a right instead of the usual left that would take me quickly back to GNV.
Because I know that the old, forgotten, railroad town of Baldwin hosts yet one more “transportation hub” asset that makes it worth visiting.
Indeed, it may be well northeast Florida’s best kept, um, micro-mobility secret.
The Baldwin Rail-Trail is a 14 mile stretch of abandoned railway that cuts like a knife through the lush piney woods of northeast Florida until it ultimately connects to the very edge of Jax sprawl.
It’s been maybe 15 or 20 years since last I rode the Baldwin Trail.
And I’m just gonna say this:
I have no idea what the hell took me so long to make the return trip.
The first thing I’m going to tell you is that it’s one of the most canopied rail-trails I’ve ridden in Florida.
Except for the last two or three miles on the Jax end, it is lushly shaded against what Kipling so aptly termed the glare and heat of the “midday sun.”
And for a trail that begins at what might charitably be called “out in the middle of nowhere,” it is very well used indeed.
On my two hour ride I encountered many trail uses. Families and bike club groups and walkers and runners and skaters and more.
And yet for all of that “traffic,” you can still find yourself, on odd stretches, experiencing the sort of splendid solitude that truly does make this trail experience well worth riding.
Seriously. Just for once, don’t take that turn. Actually go into Baldwin and find its trail head.
You won’t regret it.
My name is Ron Cunningham and I approve of this message.
FreeGNV 