Nayles Trail

Spending a week mountain biking around Ocala and rode this loop today. This is a pure cross-country loop of about 10 miles. Lots of ups and downs ranging from small to medium, some with roots that adds a challenge on the up. There are fast sections through open forest area and tight and twisty through the pine trees. We all felt the ride (though this was day 3) by the end.

Main criticism is the signage is awful - in fact it barely exists. We started from Shangri-la and got lost finding the start of the trail. We rode South Nayles to 49th St and came back N Nayles where we got dumped out on the paved greenway with no signage which way to go to get back to the campground. We finally found the dirt road that took us back, but there were several times during the ride we stopped to check our GPS. It would have been nice to have some signage along the way to confirm we were on the right trail.

I've ridden almost every trail in the Santos system and the Nayles Loop is my favorite so far. Fun, flowy sections but not overly technical. Some decent descents for Florida. The sugar sand on Nayles S kind of sucks, but there's not too much of it thankfully. If you're going to do the loop, I suggest doing it starting with Nayles N from 49th out to 484 and Nayles S coming back East. High bear activity in the area lately, according to signs at the trailhead but I didn't see any on my last ride which was today.

One of the best trails in the Santos system. Solid intermediate with punchy climbs and drops. Trail is approx 10 miles in length, and is flowy to get some speed. Can have patches of sugar sand, and rides best after rain.

I am writing this review after we went looking for a recent review before riding it today and there was nothing, so here is the low down from a rider from South Florida-- where all the riding is super technical:
Lets get the negative out of the way first: there is sugar sand, you will encounter it at various places throughout this trail. Some spots of it are longer than others, some are short patches right at the bottom of drops that you might otherwise have chosen to jump but have concern for a sand landing. Its there, but its all rideable and creates an extra level of challenge. Riding sugar sand on corners and at the bottom of drop-offs is kind of like skiing ice, you have to go light and try not to make anything drastic in movements.

Now the rest. Nayles is 10 miles of pedaling, you never really stop pedaling. There are lots of roots, many of them are on sharp changes in the trail via drops or climbs. There are also a lot of narrow passages through trees.

I would sum this trail up like this: its fun and is as much of a challenge as you want it to be. If you press hard, the narrow spots can be a challenge, and even dangerous. You really have to think "skinny." Press hard on the roots and they are a challenge. You fight to stay upright, and I got knocked off on one large one that was right at the cusp of a sharp turn. I would call this a very "athletic" trail. It rewards an athletic attack, push hard keep the speed up on the climbs and downs- both of which are pretty gentle, but rooty enough to be challenging, and the trail will present itself as a challenge, 10 miles of constant pedaling challenge. Go slow and this trail will bore you.

For those of us from out of town who visit several times per year, this is a nice change from Vortex and Greenway trailhead, and one of the few places in Florida to get 10 miles of single track in one trail.

You will come out smiling.

Great trail(s) away from the busy Santos Trailhead that makes it a good pick for weekend riding. Lots of tight turns and close trees to ride between. Various vegetation types to travel thru...pine, oak and palmetto forest. There are a few mounds to climb keeping the trip interesting. The north trail is 6 miles of blue and the south is 4 miles. The south trail features a long wooden bridge that presents a good climb returning east. The final 1.5 miles is a yellow trail. The trail begins at the 49th Avenue Trailhead where the only facilities are portable potties and no drinking water.

One of my favorites at Santos. Really like the ups and downs, the trail is shady and from landbridge we rode 20 miles and enjoyed it all.

Our first time riding. Once we found the trailhead we had a great ride. A nice, long ride, with some nice twists and technical areas. Better signage would be great and distance markiers (if possible) too. A great ride though.

Combine this with Ern n burn for some of the most fun fast flowy cross country riding in Florida, just rode this again and the new wooden bridge up that sandy hill is a great add, great job to those who built it! These trails from 49th to Ross Prairie and back are my favorite in the state.

A great section of Santos. It's a nice long ride with a lot of variety. You go from tight twisty singletrack to playing on the canal diggings to wide open pine forests where you can open up the throttle. Great trail and well maintained by OMBA.

Great cross country riding! A good way to change it up from the more popular sections of Santos. A nice long ride with some semi-technical sections. You'll have a blast out here!