Things to do / Travel Guide
There are a few good places to ride your bike in northeastern Florida and the Panhandle. For one, you can bike on the Florida National Scenic Trail, which runs all the way from Pensacola down towards Miami. The rule in Florida is flat: Things may be a little hilly in places, but there are no mountains, and things aren't very rocky, either. This is especially true when biking the barrier islands.
Biking in Northeast Florida
One paved and straight bike route for your pedaling pleasure is the A1A River and Sea Trail on northeast Florida's First Coast. You can bike the length of the barrier island from Marineland to Flagler Beach. Along the way you pass through four state parks and preserves, luxurious golf courses, and you get a chance to see the ocean dunes, beaches, and coastal scrub unique to the barrier island's ecosystem. Additionally, there's no reason you can't travel boundlessly up and down the barrier island, even past Daytona Beach. It's all beautiful, even the built-up areas, with the ocean on one side and the barrier river on the other; and it's also perfectly straight, much like the racetracks in Daytona Beach. You get the idea. It is not a problem to rent a bike in any of the cities or larger towns on the coastal strip.
On Amelia Island there are a number of paths along which you can ride your bike and appreciate the surrounding nature. It isn't hard to find a bike for rent in the island's historic city of Fernandina. There are plenty of trails within the maritime forests, but one place in particular it is nice to pedal around is Fort Clinch, on the northern part of the island. Most of the trails are paved.
On the Nature Coast, the paved Nature Coast State Trail is an excellent route between Cross City and Chiefland, crossing the Suwannee River. Around 32 miles long, this multi-use trail traverses an abandoned rail bed. You pass through two small towns, Fanning Springs State Park, as well as the Andrews Wildlife Management Area along the way. Bikes can be rented in Chiefland.
Biking on the Panhandle
Closer to Tallahassee, you'll find a few good bike trails in the Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park. Take Route 319 from a few miles north of I-10 in the Tallahassee area to get there. The unpaved bike trail is all of three miles long, and you pass the park's lakes and gardens under canopied tree coverage.
Another paved route on which to ride your bike is the Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail. This trail, which spans 16 miles, connects Tallahassee to St. Marks, a town located on the Gulf. The starting-off point in Tallahassee is right by Florida A&M University, on Gamble Street in the southern section of the city. You ride through the remainder of the city southward, following the now-abandoned railway of what used to be a major train route to the coast.
On the west side of the region, close to Pensacola, you can ride your bicycle in the Blackwater Heritage State Park. In the town of Milton, get off Route 90 onto Stewart Street, and the trailhead is right there. The paved trail meanders its way through residential neighborhoods and ends at the Whiting Field U.S. Naval Air Station. The whole trail is around nine miles long, and not difficult, so you can concentrate on the pleasant atmosphere.
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