Nature Coast Back Country Horsemen
NCBCH Current events
NCBCH Meeting
Our next meeting will be Thursday March 23rd at the Brooksville Enrichment Center (directions at the bottom) at 6 p.m. Jim McAlister will be our speaker. Jim is a 4th generation Florida Cracker and will present on his experiences on the Historic Great Florida Cattle Drive. This is a speaker you won’t want to miss. We will start with a pot luck meal. NCBCH will again provide the main dish with members bringing side dishes to share.
John Gary Grubbs Blvd. is approximately 250 feet south of Luigis Pizza on Broad St. If you GPS the address that is listed online it will take you to a different location.
Charlie Kemp
NCBCH President
Our Annual Membership Drive
NCBCH welcomes and depends on your involvement and support. Join us now to preserve our right to ride on public lands in Florida and across the nation.
Dues for 2023 are $25 for individual membership, $30 for family (2 votes during elections for family membership).
Click on the Membership link below to print an application.
Croom Forest
Hunting Dates 2022/23
Muzzleloading Gun
Oct 22–24,2022
General Gun
Nov. 5–27, 2022
Small Game
Nov. 29, 2022–March 6, 2023
Croom Clean Up
NCBCH Newsletter
NCBCH News December 2022
Good day Nature Coast Back Country Horsemen.
I hope everyone has been taking advantage of this glorious spring weather. Temperatures have been great! The only thing we could ask for is a little shower to settle the dust as the trails are very dry! Let’s hope the freezes we had back in January will keep the ticks and the chiggers down for the season. So far no reports of flies, but I’m sure they will be here as it warms up.
At our last meeting on Feb. 23rd we completed the annual election process. Since there were no opposing candidates we approved all existing officers and board members to continue the 2023 season in their current roles. Special thanks to all who serve on the board and in officer’s positions. This organization could not exist without you.
We have a lot of exciting things happening in March.
We are hosting a Wilderness First Aide class on March 17th and 18th. This is a 2 day, 16 hour course that will satisfy your CPR certification if needed. Our American Red Cross instructor Sal Porto has been facilitating these classes for over 7 years primarily to the Boy Scouts of America. This is an interactive, hands on course and Sal makes it fun and entertaining, as well as informative. Cost is $125 per person. If you are interested in taking the course please reach out to me (727-560-9990) for more info and registration.
Our next meeting will be Thursday March 23rd at the Brooksville Enrichment Center (directions at the bottom) at 6 p.m. Jim McAlister will be our speaker. Jim is a 4th generation Florida Cracker and will present on his experiences on the Historic Great Florida Cattle Drive. This is a speaker you won’t want to miss. We will start with a pot luck meal. NCBCH will again provide the main dish with members bringing side dishes to share.
March 25th will be our annual Forest Road Clean up. This event will be staged at the Tucker Hill Horse parking lot with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. and teams heading out at 9 a.m. on designated routes. When registering please let us know if you have forest road worthy vehicles to help in transporting participants to/from the staging area to designated routes and/or retrieval of collected trash along the routes. NCBCH will provide lunch at the pavilion for all participants. For planning and organizational purposes we ask that you register ahead of time through the below link. If you can spend a few hours with us cleaning up the forest we would greatly appreciate it. Our last clean up was cancelled at the last moment due to a double booking at Tucker Hill. We haven’t been able to have one since so I think we can all agree there is plenty to clean up. Please follow this link to sign up: https://sites.google.com/site/naturecoastbch/forest-clean-up
I want to personally thank our trail crews who do an excellent job cleaning and keeping the trails clear of deadfall. Please continue to report any trail issues to us so we can get out there and remove any issues.
As always, I appreciate each and every member of NCBCH. This organization is here because of all of you. Thank you for your continued support.
Best regards
Charlie Kemp
NCBCH President
Officers and board members 2022
President – Charlie Kemp
Vice President – Bob Hopta
Secretary – Ann Hopta
Treasurer – Lorri Kindberg
Board of Directors – Lee Adams, Donna Allen, Martha Casisa, Bill Ehrlich
NCBCH Work Day
On Saturday, November 5th, 2022 approximately 25 members from Nature Coast Back Country Horsemen met in the morning at Tucker Hill Trailhead in the Croom Tract of the Withlacoochee Forest to help FFS by pulling and disposing of 670 lbs. of the invasive Caesars weed. FFS is very concerned about this invasive weed as it flourishes and chokes out the native flora and fauna. After a morning of pulling and disposing of this weed everyone moved to the pavilion located at the trailhead for lunch provided by NCBCH and some social time.
Volunteer of the Year 2021 - Charlie Kemp
Charlie Kemp and Molly Rider
Nature Coast Back Country Horsemen’s 2021 Volunteer of the Year awardee is Charlie Kemp. Charlie has enthusiastically given his time and expertise to better our organization. He has acted as a liaison with SWAMP (mountain bike group in Croom) and FFS. Although Charlie is not a ‘horse’ person but rather a ‘bike’ person he strongly supports his wife Vicki as an equestrian. He and his sidekick Molly Rider regularly travel Croom trails by either biking, hiking or on his quad (with a valid permit) to address and correct trail issues.
He identifies problem trail issues, creates safe and sustainable alternatives and submits these plans to FFS for their input and approval. He created plans for Smith Prairie Trail Head (where NCBCH won the prestigious Back Country Horsemen of America’s Double Diamond Award), worked with the FFS biologist to reroute the extremely eroded portion of the access trail out of Tucker Hill Trail Head to create a sustainable and safe trail.
He is currently on NCBCH’s board.
Becky Card-Swerdloff presented Charlie with a personalized biking shirt. Emblazoned with NCBCH’s logo and his Volunteer of Year status it also has a nod to his passions – his bike and Molly Rider! Thank you Charlie for all you do!
Please Support Our Sponsors
NCBCH thanks the following sponsors who made our 2019 Shindig a huge success
Ranch Hand Feed Depot, Giddy-Up Saddle Shop, Wagon Wheel, Fletcher's Tack Shop, Irish Trails Farm and Pet Supply
Remington Outpost, Capricci Healing Waters, Massage by Claire Larrson, White Daisy, Damsel in Defense - Phyllis Nolte, Photography by Ann Hopta
Tractor Supply Co. Brooksville, Pickett's Brooksville Ace Hardware, Toole's Groveland Ace Hardware, Rural King
Papa Joe’s Italian Restaurant, River Ratz, Luigi's Pizza of Brooksville, Mykonos II, Beef O'Brady's, Mallie Kyla’s, Country Kitchen, Glory Days Grill, Publix
Florida Forest Service
Please patronize these generous donors that support our local community
Back Country Horsemen of America
How to obtain parking passes for local Trailheads
Friends of Florida State Forests Annual Day Pass
Good for all Florida state forests that have fees at the trailheads. The day use fee at Croom's Tucker Hill trailhead is $2 per person. The annual pass is $45 which is good for any day of the year for up to 6 people. To order the annual pass on-line go to:
Friends of Florida State Forests Annual Day Pass
Purchase it locally at: Florida Forest Service
Withlacoochee State Forest Recreation/Visitors Center
15003 Broad St., Brooksville, FL 34601-4201
(352) 797-4140
Lake Townsen Preserve, Nobleton Parking Fee
The daily parking fee is $3.00 per vehicle. An annual parking pass is $45.00 per vehicle.
To get Annual Parking Pass Application go to:
Lake Townsen Annual Parking Pass
Read both pages, particularly the highlighted area, print, fill it out, make a check payable to Hernando Cnty Recreation Department, & mail to 205 E. Fort Dade St., Brooksville, FL 34601, or go to their office at same address to purchase one. Call 352-754-4027 for further info.