Souteast Florida Bike Trails
 

Is there anyplace I can ride down here without traffic? I usually ride on the road but I'd like to find a god car-free bike route. For the last couple week, I've ridden the Pompano blimp park route but it's only 4.4 miles. I'm wondering if there's a longer one in Palm Beach, Broward or Miami that I'm missing.

If you want to be completely away from traffic, there aren't many options. The Broadwalk on Hollywood beach runs about seven car-free miles then joins with cars Surf Rd, which is pretty sedate (15mph speed limit) for another few miles to Dania pier. At certain times of the day, there are lots of pedestrian obstacles (oblivious children, kids on rental trikes, etc...) and I believe there is also a 15mph speed limit for cyclists.

The greenway around Lake Okeechobee (Lake O. Scenic Trail) is pretty nice and totally car-free between Canal Point and Okeechobee (about 35 miles) or between Moore Haven and Belle Glade (about 25 miles), though both will require you to ride with traffic very briefly to get over a bridge. You can put the hammer down on the LOST, it's a wide concrete path with low pedestrian traffic.

If you're looking for off-road trails, the levees around the glades are the way to go, west of Coral Springs at Atlantic Blvd you can jump on and do a 30 mile loop or go north to Loxahatchee.

Broward county publishes a "bicycle suitability map" that attempts to represent levels of traffic interaction, but it's a bit out of date: http://www.broward.org/mpo/bicyclesuitabilitymap.htm

Thanks to mexipat for the original question and Chris_In_Miami for the response. I'll be renting a bike in Miami in the next few weeks and had/have the same question. The only other trail of consequence in the region seems to be the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail that runs south from Key Largo. Are there some 'country' roads west of Miami?

Thanks, Chris. I hadn't thought of the Broadwalk.

Randy: I dont know much about west of Miami as I live 50 miles north. Hope somebody else can help you.

I did find this bit of encouraging prose re: bikes in the Everglades National Park:
http://www.everglades.national-park.com/hike.htm#bike

Shark Valley is cool, but gets very crowded on the weekends, so try to get there early. The mosquitoes are unbelievable in the summer, but spring is not bad. If you've got a mountain bike, Loop Road is a nice alternative that's a bit further west, it's a gravel road with very little vehicle traffic (mostly sightseers,) and good wildlife viewing (deer, otters, loads of alligators.)

I'm not familiar with the Heritage Trail, but I've spent plenty of time in the Keys. There's one main road through most of the islands, I don't believe the bike lane is present through the entire stretch, but the vehicle traffic is mostly under 50mph.

I just wanted to point out, that the LOST (Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail) is currently closed on the south end of the lake, due to construction and such between South Bay and Uncle Joe's Fish Camp between Clewiston and Moore Haven. Your best bet for the LOST is from Port Mayaca to the Kissimmee River in Buckhead Ridge. There is lots of parking at Port Mayaca, and many miles of good trail to ride with few gates to fuss with.

Tractor Tom
Okeechobee, FL

Thanks Tractor Tom. It's not likely that I'll get as far north as Okeechobee, but that's good to know.
Preparing to slather sufficient sunscreen on my northern no-tan.

For an urban adventure, there is also the South Dade Trail that parallels US1 (Dixie Hwy) for 13+ miles between SW Miami and Homestead..... found thanks to Google Maps new bicycle layer.

There is a marina in south dade called blackpoint, its a great starting point, free parking, fair security, usually rides go by homestead motor speedway, then on to
"Roberts is here" fruit stand. You then have many options continue through redlands- homestead routes or continue on towards flamingo through everglades national park (fee for entrance or annual pass) The everglades bike club and zmotion is starting their MS150 from the speedway this year. Everglades Bicycle Club also uses the speedway as starting locations often. Area is very rural, only a few sections with traffic. Blackpoint to speedway is around 10 miles one way, to national park entrance its 25 miles one way, there are many routes > 100 mile rides are easy and interesting. Many cyclist always riding on weekends, usually early in AM.

Thanx, Salty. Good info to know.

I just did the Key Largo to Key West ride last weekend - if you're looking for a long stretch of road, it's pretty decent, though the shoulder is INCREDIBLY chewed up at certain points.

The bike path there jumps from side to side randomly, which I find very annoying, but most of the road has a good shoulder. In town, the path even takes over the sidewalk for a ways, so you have a raised asphalt path instead of the usual concrete madness.

I also do AIA from Fort Lauderdale to Boca-ish, a few places have no path but the drivers are pretty used to cyclists in that area, it's very popular.