A Pasco County trailhead closed in June and won't reopen until next summer. The open access point it points people to is on Lutz Lake Fern Road, a short drive from Gunn Highway. In early November, Hillsborough County plans to close a section of Gunn Highway and send drivers down that same road.
A state overpass, a county culvert, a craft show and a playground upgrade each run on their own schedule. They overlap on one corner of north Lutz. For the next several weeks, and in a smaller way until summer 2027, the stretch of Lutz Lake Fern Road between Gunn Highway and the Veterans Expressway carries more than it normally does.
The trailhead that picked up a second job
Hillsborough County lists the Lutz Lake Fern Trailhead at 7020 Lutz Lake Fern Road. It sits on the south side of the road, east of Gunn Highway and west of the Veterans Expressway. The county lists parking and restrooms there. It doesn't list drinking water, so riders heading out for a long stretch should bring their own.
The trailhead connects two trail systems. The Upper Tampa Bay Trail runs north from Van Dyke Road to this trailhead and meets the Suncoast Trail at the Veterans Expressway. That's why the spot matters well beyond Lutz.
On June 23, 2026, the Florida Department of Transportation closed the Suncoast Trail trailhead at the end of Touchpoint Drive, on the north side of SR 54 in Pasco County. The closure is listed as "around-the-clock through summer 2027." When the closure was announced, Tampa Bay Beacons reported that Pasco County named the Upper Tampa Bay Trailhead on Lutz Lake Fern Road as the nearest access while Touchpoint Drive is closed. The same report quoted the county's social media post: "We know. It's not ideal."
So for about a year, a Hillsborough County trailhead in Lutz is filling in for a Pasco County trailhead in Odessa.
The overpass schedule has already moved once
When the Beacons covered the start of work in June, both Suncoast Trail overpasses were "tentatively set to open in the first half of 2027." The report put the combined cost at an estimated $18.9 million. FDOT's own project pages now show the two finishing at different times.
| Project | Construction began | FDOT's current estimate | Trailhead status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suncoast Trail overpass over SR 52 | January 2026 | Early 2027 | Trail expected to stay open |
| Suncoast Trail overpass over SR 54 | June 22, 2026 | Summer 2027 | Touchpoint Drive trailhead closed through summer 2027 |
FDOT lists the SR 54 overpass as a $9 million project built by Cone & Graham, Inc. The trail is being rebuilt to fit the bridge, and a street-level crossing of SR 54 stays open during the work. FDOT plans short pedestrian detours while crews work overhead and expects the trail itself to stay open throughout construction.
For anyone starting a ride in Lutz, the trail isn't closed. What's closed is one parking and access point to the north. The pressure goes to the next trailhead down the line, and that's the one on Lutz Lake Fern Road. The SR 54 date also tells you how long that lasts. FDOT now says summer 2027, a revised window from the June report's first half of 2027.
Gunn Highway's detour goes past the same trailhead
The second project is smaller but closer to home. Hillsborough County is replacing a culvert near 18830 Gunn Highway, with a project cost estimate of $1,294,487 and completion expected in late 2026. The work requires closing Gunn Highway at that spot for up to 28 days.
The start date has already changed. The county's Sept. 10 announcement expected the closure to begin on or after Oct. 12. The project page now gives Nov. 5 as the anticipated start, still lasting up to 28 days. The county hasn't published an end date. If the closure starts Nov. 5 and runs the full 28 days, it would end around the first days of December. That's an estimate built from the county's numbers, not a date the county has announced.
The county's posted detour has three legs:
- Lutz Lake Fern Road
- Dale Mabry Highway
- Van Dyke Road
The county also names the Veterans Expressway as a tolled alternative.
The first leg is the road the trailhead sits on. Starting Nov. 5, the trail access point that's standing in for Touchpoint Drive is also on the county's route for drivers who would normally take Gunn Highway. The trailhead is on the south side of the road, so anyone turning in or pulling out will be crossing or merging into that detour traffic for most of November.
The two closures were scheduled by different agencies for unrelated reasons, but they meet at this stretch. They also meet on the calendar.
The calendar from here to summer
| Date | What's scheduled | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 5, anticipated | Gunn Highway closure begins, up to 28 days | Near 18830 Gunn Highway |
| Around early December, if the full 28 days are used | Gunn Highway closure would end | Same |
| Dec. 5 and 6 | 2026 Lutz Arts and Crafts Show | Keystone Prep High School, 18105 Gunn Highway |
| January 2027, estimated | Lake Park shelter reservations expected to reopen | Lake Park |
| Early 2027 | SR 52 overpass completion estimate | Suncoast Trail, Pasco County |
| Summer 2027 | SR 54 overpass completion, Touchpoint Drive trailhead reopens | Suncoast Trail, Pasco County |
A December weekend on Gunn Highway
The longest-running item on that calendar is the one most likely to be affected by the road work. The GFWC Lutz-Land O'Lakes Woman's Club has scheduled the 2026 Lutz Arts and Crafts Show for Dec. 5 and 6 at Keystone Prep High School, 18105 Gunn Highway. The school is on Gunn Highway between Van Dyke Road and Lutz Lake Fern Road. Those are two of the roads on the county's detour.
If the culvert closure starts on Nov. 5 and uses its full window, Gunn Highway should reopen only days before the show. If the start slips again, the closure and the show could overlap. The county's project page is where any new date will show up first, and it's worth checking the week of the show before driving over.
The park that's on a pause of its own
One more local spot is in a waiting period. Hillsborough County says playground upgrades at Lake Park have halted shelter reservations because of construction hazards. The county estimates reservations will reopen in January 2027 but hasn't given an exact date. The pause covers shelter bookings, and it affects anyone planning a holiday gathering or a birthday party in a covered pavilion this season. If you were planning a November or December party at a Lake Park shelter, you'll need another location or a later date.
How the next year looks on this corner
Put the pieces together and the next several months have a clear order. Through November, the trailhead at 7020 Lutz Lake Fern Road is a parking lot for two trail systems on a road carrying detoured Gunn Highway traffic. In December, Gunn Highway is expected to be open again, in time for the craft show at Keystone Prep. In January, Lake Park shelters are expected to take bookings again. Early in 2027 the SR 52 overpass is expected to finish. The SR 54 overpass follows in summer 2027, and the Touchpoint Drive trailhead reopens when it does.
Each of those dates is an agency estimate, and two have already moved since summer. The SR 54 overpass went from "first half of 2027" to "summer 2027." The Gunn Highway closure went from "on or after Oct. 12" to Nov. 5. The FDOT project pages and the county's PublicInput page are the places to watch for the next change.
Until the SR 54 bridge opens, the Lutz Lake Fern Trailhead is the main entry to the Suncoast Trail for riders coming from this part of north Tampa. Through November, Gunn Highway drivers will be using the same road.
Questions like when a road reopens or which trailhead is open come up all the time for people who live here, and they're part of what I follow week to week across Lutz and the rest of north Tampa. If you'd like help understanding how projects like these fit into life on your street, Julie Kelsey would be glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
