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HomosassapostofficePhoto: WhisperToMe · CC BY-SA 3.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Homosassa

34% of Homosassa’s land is conserved: 1,688 acres

612 acres are parks and preserves, 315 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park (0.9 mi). 86% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
34%
1,688 acres · of 7.8 sq mi of land
Trails
2.0 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
612 ac
315 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
86%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
4 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Homosassa?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild34% of the land is conserved; a typical Florida town, 3%.Room to roam315 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Parks close to home86% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Homosassa have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Homosassa is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Homosassa’s overall grade.
Conserved land34% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land315 acres of park per 1,000 residents (612 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13AParks close to home86% of residents within a half mile of a park · FL 70% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 90%
LessMore

Water is 6% of Homosassa’s area (1 of 8 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 32%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.

PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →

The map

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

Park
175 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Withlacoochee State Forest

Nature preserve
688 acres0.3 mi of trail
West Spring Park Court
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Crystal River Preserve State Park

Nature preserve
389 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Chassahowitzka River and Coastal Swamps

Nature preserve
50 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park175 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Directions
Withlacoochee State Forest688 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Directions
Crystal River Preserve State Park389 acres
Chassahowitzka River and Coastal Swamps50 acres
Yulee Sugarmill Ruins Historic State Park6 acres
Bluebird Springs Park3 acres · Citrus County
Directions
Who protects it

1,688 conserved acres

34% of Homosassa’s land. Water is left out: Homosassa has 7.8 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Homosassa’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Other state land681 ac
State parks596 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service301 ac
Joint58 ac
Regional Water Districts49 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits6 ac
Not recorded148 ac
State Resource Management Area · 681 acState Conservation Area · 389 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 301 acState Park · 203 acPrivate Conservation · 154 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 58 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 12 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Withlacoochee State Forest
State Resource Management Area
Other state land681Open
Crystal River Preserve State Park
State Conservation Area
State parks389Open
Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service232Restricted
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
State Park
State parks203Open
Upper Coastal Mitigation Bank
Private Conservation
Not recorded148Closed
Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service69Restricted
Chassahowitzka River and Coastal Swamps
Watershed Protection Area
Regional Water Districts49Closed
Cumming Preserve
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits6Closed
Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park
State Historic or Cultural Area
State parks5Open
Things to do

9 places to go in Homosassa

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Boat launches in Homosassa
MacRae
Directions

Plus 3 boat launches without a name on the map.

Trails & water

1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers

Named trails
West Spring Park Court0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Hog PondspondHomosassa River
Biking & sports

1.3 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Basketball
1Volleyball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Yulee Sugar Mill RuinsStructure · listed 1970
About it
When to get out

April is the best month for walking in Homosassa

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)10.511.111.912.813.614.013.813.212.311.410.710.3
High (°F)687175818790919089837670
Rain (in)3.32.83.32.72.97.58.58.35.82.71.92.5

November is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 8.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Homosassa →

Next door

Homosassa and its neighbors

Homosassa has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Homosassa Springs2.4 miHomosassa2.0 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Homosassa34%0.331586%A
Homosassa Springsunder 1%0.139%D

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Homosassa

Where can I hike in Homosassa?

The longest trail networks: Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, 0.9 miles; Withlacoochee State Forest, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Homosassa is conserved land?

34% of its land, against a typical 3% for a Florida town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Homosassa’s trails?

Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park and Withlacoochee State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Homosassa?

1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Homosassa?

62,327 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Homosassa or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,292 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Homosassa have?

Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Trail talk

Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Homosassa neighbors.

Town Square →
Share a tip
Sources

Where this page comes from

Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →