Bicycle Trails

We Have Enjoyed

While On the Road

Jekyll Island, Georgia

  It is possible to bike most of Jekyll Island..  Start at the Jekyll Island Campground and follow the bicycle map you can pick up in the office.  We recommend that you carry a tire pump with you, and at the first signs of any sand burrs in your tires, stop IMMEDIATELY and pick them all out.   Enough said about that!

Sanibel Island, Florida

Sanibel Island is the ideal place for riding bikes.  There are bikes to be rented if you don't bring your own.  From Periwinkle Park we bike to the beach (no parking problems).  What a relaxing place!  And cars will actually look out for you and give bicycles the right-of-way.  There is a LOT of traffic at Sanibel, but it is slow, polite traffic for the most part.

J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

If you are up to it, try bicycling the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel.  It is not an easy ride, over a gravel/dirt road, but a beautiful, leisurely 5 miles which is home to alligators, pelicans, roseate spoonbills and other Florida wildlife.

The Pinellas Trail

Another favorite place in Florida is the Pinellas Trail. You can get on the  47-mile long Trail in Tarpon Springs and pedal south to all the way to St. Petersburg.  The trail was made from an old abandoned railroad right-of-way.

(Will insert a picture here after our visit to Dunedin in November!)

More Rails-to-Trails :

The Virginia Creeper Trail is a public access, shared-use trail connecting Abingdon, Virginia, with the Virginia-North Carolina border. The total trail length is 34 miles. The Virginia Creeper Trail began as a Native American footpath. Later, the European pioneers, as well as Daniel Boone, used the trail. Shortly after 1900 the Virginia-Carolina Railroad was constructed. In its day, the line hauled lumber, iron ore, supplies, and passengers. Its nickname, Virginia Creeper, came from the early steam locomotives that struggled slowly up the railroad's steep grades. Virginia Creeper is also the name of a vine that grows prolifically in this area. States and is widely lauded as one of the most beautiful trails on the continent.  We biked the trail 17 miles from White Top Mountain to Damascas. We took a Blue Blaze shuttle van up the mountain, so biking was  downhill all the way!

The Virginia Creeper Trail traverses through some of the most rugged and picturesque scenery in the Eastern United States.

Bemidji State Park, Minnesota

   Here is another "rails to trails", otherwise known as the Paul Bunyan State Trail.  This paved trail goes around Bemidji State Park.  We rode 12 miles this day.  Below is another picture taken on the trail overlooking Lake Bemidji.

More Michigan

Grand Haven

Grand Haven, Michigan, is a great place to just hang out.  We spent a weekend there during the Great Lakes Kite Festival in May.  As you can see, it still looks pretty cool there in May.  Despite the cool winds, it is a nice town to bike in.  We biked from the state park, through the town, down to the breakwater along the river.

Mackinac Island

If you are going to Mackinac Island, biking is a must (otherwise you must either rent a horse carriage or walk).  There is an extra charge for bringing your bicycle over on the ferry, or you can rent a bike after you arrive.  Do ride the eight-mile trail around the island.  It is an easy trail, and it gets you out of the crowds and smelly horses at the ferry landing downtown.

Marquette

Marquette is a very nice little town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and has a paved bicycle trail throughout.  We rode from the Marquette Tourist Park, which is a nice city campground, to the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse on Lake Street, which is about 3 miles.  There were several places to access the Lake Superior shoreline along the bicycle trail.

New England

Nantucket Island

     We brought our bicycles with us on the ferry, but bicycles may be rented on the land.  One of the best ways to tour Nantucket is by bike.  The island is just 14.5 miles by 3.5 miles, and a dedicated cyclist can bike around the entire island in a day.  

There are five separate paved bicycle paths on the island.  We wanted to see the lighthouse on the eastern shore, so we rode the longest path, approximately 8 miles with hills of various size and a winding terrain. From the bike path we took a road through a residential area up to the lighthouse. 

This page is still under construction.  Come back later for more bicycle trails.