Route #124 Gulf Hammock - Juliette - Williston - Romeo

 The route covers approximately 96 miles through Levy and Marion counties, crossing extensive rural landscapes dominated by forests, protected natural areas, former railroad corridors and small agricultural and ranching communities in west central Florida. The ride connects settlements such as Gulf Hammock, Lebanon, Butler, Rainbow Lake Estates, Juliette, Martel, Fellowship, Williston, Montbrook, Morriston and Romeo, along with numerous ghost towns that emerged during the railroad and lumber boom of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The journey begins in Gulf Hammock, a historic community surrounded by vast forests, wetlands and protected lands near the Gulf of Mexico. The area was first settled during the 1840s and later expanded through the lumber industry and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. During much of the twentieth century enormous sections of forestland were controlled by timber companies such as Georgia-Pacific. Today the region remains sparsely populated and surrounded by protected areas including Goethe State Forest, Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park and the Lower Waccasassa Conservation Area.

The route continues toward Lebanon, a former railroad settlement whose name refers to the cedar trees of the region, compared to the famous cedars of Lebanon. Farther ahead the ride crosses Butler and rural areas where numerous small communities once existed before disappearing over time. After entering Marion County the route reaches Rainbow Lake Estates, a massive partially abandoned subdivision where countless streets were opened during speculative real estate projects that were never fully completed.

The ride continues toward Juliette, a small community founded during the 1880s near the springs that now form part of Rainbow Springs State Park. The area contains one of Florida’s most important spring systems, feeding the Rainbow River with millions of gallons of crystal-clear water every day. Former railroad and tourist settlements once existed here along the route of the Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad.

The route then follows former railroad corridors through historic communities and ghost towns such as Rock Springs, Leroy, York, Martel and Agnew. The landscape once again shifts into vast rural areas focused on cattle ranching and especially the equine industry, one of Marion County’s most important economic sectors. Farther ahead appear Fellowship and the vanished settlement of Standard, while nearby once stood Emathla, named after a nineteenth century Creek leader.

Continuing northwest, the ride reaches Blichton, an old agricultural settlement founded by Simeon Hardee Blitch during the 1830s. This region also once contained military forts and small pioneer settlements established during the Seminole Wars and the later agricultural colonization of inland Florida.

Farther ahead the route returns into Levy County and reaches Williston, one of the region’s principal rural communities. The city is internationally known for Blue Grotto and Devil’s Den, enormous sinkholes and underground spring cave systems formed within Florida’s limestone terrain. The area was historically connected to the Florida Northern Railroad and remains surrounded today by farms, forests and ranchland.

The final section crosses Williston Highlands, Montbrook, Morriston and Romeo. Montbrook is especially known for major paleontological discoveries where fossils millions of years old have been uncovered. Romeo, meanwhile, is a small community founded during the 1850s whose name is believed to come from a romantic local story involving a young man from the area and a girl from Juliette, echoing Shakespeare’s tragedy.

Eventually the route returns toward Gulf Hammock through secondary highways, former railroad corridors and some of the most isolated and natural rural landscapes remaining in west central Florida.