Trails and Tees: Lake Mary’s Outdoor Double
The 23-mile Cross Seminole Trail ends here, and Timacuan's two contrasting nines wait on the east side. Lake Mary's outdoor case, made.
3 minute read
Lake Mary‘s outdoor life runs on two rails: a paved trail that crosses the whole county and ends at its interstate bridge, and a golf course whose two nines play like two different countries. Together they explain how this corporate suburb stays sane — before work, after work and on the long Saturday mornings between market and brunch, Lake Mary is outside.
The Cross Seminole Trail
The Cross Seminole Trail is one of Central Florida’s great paved rides: 23 miles from the Cady Way Trail junction in Winter Park, north through Oviedo and Winter Springs, to the pedestrian bridge over Interstate 4 in Lake Mary, where it connects onward to the Seminole Wekiva Trail. A portion carries the Florida National Scenic Trail designation. It is a rail-trail at heart — long, shaded, mostly separated from traffic — and Lake Mary holds its northern end, which makes the city a natural start or finish for point-to-point rides.
Lake Mary’s access points are unusually good. Trailhead Park, at 3990 W. Lake Mary Boulevard, is a full trailhead with restrooms, water and a concession. Greenwood Lakes Park, at 660 Greenway Boulevard, puts restrooms, water, a pavilion and picnic tables directly on the trail. Oval Park on International Parkway serves the corridor’s west side. Seminole County manages the trail, and parking at its trailheads is free. Ride south and the trail unspools through Winter Springs and Oviedo; ride the connector over I-4 and the Wekiva Trail carries you toward Altamonte Springs and beyond. For walkers, the Lake Mary segments deliver the best of it in short doses — oak canopy, neighborhood edges, lake glimpses — without committing to the full 23 miles.
Timacuan: two nines, two countries
Timacuan Golf & Country Club, off Rinehart Road near State Road 46A, is the east side’s anchor and one of Florida’s most interesting suburban courses. Ron Garl designed it — the course opened in 1987 — after studying links architecture in Scotland, and that research shows on the front nine: open, wind-aware, ground-game golf that feels transplanted. Bobby Weed renovated the course in 1996, and the back nine turns to classic Florida parkland — water, oaks and tighter questions. Sources differ by a shot on whether to call it par 71 or 72; what nobody disputes is the contrast, or the conditioning that has made Timacuan a repeat host for professional tour events and U.S. Open qualifying. The course stretches to roughly 7,000 yards from the back tees with multiple tee sets — seven, by some counts — so the test scales honestly from member to tournament player. A lighted practice facility and the Mike Bender Golf Academy complete the picture.
A labeling note, in keeping with how we cover this area: Heathrow Country Club and Alaqua, along Lake Mary’s western edge, are private clubs inside gated communities — landmarks on the local golf map, but not public tee times, and we do not present them as such. Timacuan is the Lake Mary round we can actually send you to play.
The outdoor day, assembled
Start at the farmers market in Central Park, ride or walk the trail from Trailhead Park late morning, and take the afternoon round at Timacuan — or reverse it, golf early and trail at golden hour. Refuel from our breakfast and coffee roundup, finish at a TownPark patio from the Lake Mary guide, and plot every stop on the Orlando Top Spots Map. The suburb, it turns out, was an outdoor town all along — it just keeps its trailheads behind the office parks.
Photo: Zrowny, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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