I live north of Sarasota in Pinellas County. Back when I was a member of a local 4X4 club we did a few trips south for rides near Sarasota. It is probably pushing 10 years since I did any wheeling in Sarasota area so I don’t remember exactly where we went. What I do remember is the places we went only had mud a water to offer. Sometimes the mud/water holes were very deep. Since I am not a big mud fan I was less then impressed with what the areas offered and skipped the club runs south of the Skyway.
Now if you do not mind driving a bit there are a couple of decent areas to ride north of me. I live in south Pinellas and it takes me between 1 to 2 hours to ride up to the trail systems so depending on where you live in Sarasota you might add another ½ to 1 hour to that. Richloam and Citrus Wildlife Management Areas have trail systems. Richloam (and surrounding area) is huge. Richloam is flat and can get very muddy/wet during the rainy season. Citrus has rolling hills and a handful of washed out sections that can be fun to play on. Also there are 3 or 4 caves that are a short hike off of the trail at Citrus that are worth checking out. The trails at Citrus are wider and safer then Richloam. The Richloam trails can get tight and can be less forgiving.
Ocala and Osceola both are good places to ride but travel time is increased (especially for Osceola). I would recommend planning a long weekend and hooking up with some type of organized ride if you go up to Ocala or Osceola. There is an off road park called Hardrock in Ocala that is worth visiting.
http://www.hardrockmx.com/ A couple of my friends and I are thinking about going up to do a Citrus/Richloam run on 2-27. If anyone would like to join in let me know and I will post something once the details are inked in.