Withlacoochee State Trail is a forty-six-mile paved, non-motorized route in central Florida and the state's longest paved rail trail. Following a former railroad corridor through Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco counties, it runs beside parts of the Withlacoochee River and through the Withlacoochee State Forest. The line began as an 1880s railroad, later became part of a direct passenger route to Florida's Gulf Coast, and carried trains such as the Southland until the mid-twentieth century. After CSX abandoned the corridor in 1987, Florida bought it in 1989 for rail-to-trails use, preserving the right-of-way as a major greenway linking small towns, historic railroad structures, and natural landscapes.