Pinellas County is one of the best places to ride a bike in Florida — and both of our rentals sit close to the middle of a 75-mile network built on old railroad corridors, power line right-of-ways, and causeways over open water. Here’s the whole picture, and where to start.
Why Cyclists Love It Here
Most of Florida is not especially good for biking. Pinellas County is the exception, and it isn’t close.
The backbone is a genuine rail-trail — a converted railroad corridor running the length of the county, wide and paved and almost entirely separated from traffic. Off that spine hang causeway trails with open Gulf and bay views, quiet park loops, and neighborhood connectors that let you ride from the beach to a downtown coffee shop without ever mixing it up with a car.
It’s also flat. Genuinely flat — the biggest climb you’ll face all week is a causeway bridge. A family with young kids, a couple on cruisers, and a rider in full kit can all have a good day out here, just at different speeds.
And the weather cooperates most of the year. Winter riding here is the reason a lot of northern cyclists come south at all.
The Network At a Glance
| 🚲 Main Trail | Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail — 47 miles, paved rail-trail |
| 🔁 Full Network | 75-mile Pinellas Trail Loop (still being completed) |
| 📏 Nearest Access | Roughly 5–6 miles east of the rental |
| ⛰️ Terrain | Flat — the only hills are causeway bridges |
| 🛣️ Surface | Paved throughout, 12–15 feet wide |
| ♿ Accessibility | ADA-compliant |
| 💵 Cost | Free to ride |
| 🚌 Bikes on Transit | Yes — PSTA buses and the Beach Trolley carry bikes |
| 🗓️ Best Season | October through April |
The Trails
🚲 Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail — Start Here
The main event, and the reason this county has a cycling reputation at all. Built on an abandoned Atlantic Coast Line railroad bed, it runs 47 miles from the Pasco County line near Tarpon Springs south to downtown St. Petersburg, passing through Dunedin, Clearwater, Largo, and Seminole along the way.
The surface is 15-foot asphalt striped into a 10-foot bike and skate lane plus a 5-foot walking lane, with a grass median between them where there’s room for one. There are rest areas, benches, and water fountains at intervals. It was inducted into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2007, which for a trail in the most densely developed county in Florida tells you something about how well it was done.
It’s a linear trail, so you pick your distance: ride out as far as you feel like and turn around. The Dunedin stretch is the crowd favorite — shady, scenic, and it drops you in a walkable downtown full of breweries and restaurants.
👉 Read our full Pinellas Trail guide
🌉 Memorial Causeway Trail — Best Short Ride
About 3.5 miles connecting downtown Clearwater to Clearwater Beach, running past the Clearwater Marine Aquarium along the way. It’s flat except for one substantial bridge, and the view from the top of that bridge is the payoff.
This is the ride to pair with a beach afternoon. Park downtown, ride over, spend the day, ride back. It also connects neatly to our Pier 60 fishing guide if you want to combine a ride with a few hours at the rail.
👉 Read our full Memorial Causeway guide
🌊 Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail — Most Scenic
If you only do one “destination” ride while you’re here, make it this one. The trail runs 9.5 miles along the south side of the causeway across Old Tampa Bay, entirely separated from the road by barriers and medians, with its own bike bridges. Near the midpoint there’s a 45-foot-high bridge with open water on both sides — bring a camera.
Roughly 4 miles are on the Pinellas side and 5.5 on the Hillsborough side, so you can ride out and back from Clearwater or make the full crossing to Tampa.
👉 Read our full Courtney Campbell guide
⚡ Duke Energy Trail — The Connector
Twelve miles running mostly under power line corridors on the east side of the county, from the Pinellas Trail at John Chesnut Sr. Park down to Belleair Rd in Clearwater. It includes a pedestrian overpass of US 19, which is worth a lot when you consider the alternative.
We’ll be honest: riders consistently describe this one as open, unshaded, and short on scenery. It’s an efficient, safe way to get somewhere better rather than a destination in itself — but that’s a genuinely useful thing to have, and it’s the piece that makes the big loop possible.
👉 Read our full Duke Energy Trail guide
↔️ Ream Wilson Clearwater Trail — Coast to Bay
The main east–west route across the middle of the county, linking Clearwater toward Safety Harbor and passing a string of city parks, sports complexes, and a large disc golf course. Mostly flat with some gentle rolling on the western end, and shadier than most trails around here.
It connects to the Duke Energy Trail, the Druid Road Trail, and by extension both the Pinellas Trail and the Courtney Campbell — which makes it the hinge for anyone stitching together a longer loop.
👉 Read our full Ream Wilson guide
🦆 Eagle Lake Park — Best for Little Kids
Right in Largo, and the right answer when someone in the group is six years old and twenty miles is not happening. Short paved loops around lakes, plenty of wildlife, shade, restrooms, and parking. Perfect for a first ride, or for burning off an hour before dinner.
👉 Read our full Eagle Lake Park guide
🏖️ Gulf Boulevard & the Beach Towns — Ride from the Door
Not a trail, but worth knowing: bike lanes run the full length of Gulf Blvd through each of the beach communities, and bike racks are common enough that locking up is rarely a problem. From the rental you can ride to Indian Rocks Beach, up through Belleair Beach and Sand Key, or south toward Madeira Beach and John’s Pass.
This is road riding with traffic beside you, so it suits confident adults more than kids. Ride early, stay visible, and be mindful that a lot of drivers here are visitors watching the water instead of the road.
👉 Read our full beach route guide
🏝️ Worth the Drive
- Honeymoon Island State Park — Trails and a causeway spur off the north end of the Pinellas Trail, with some of the best beach scenery in the state
- Fort De Soto Park — A paved multi-use trail through one of the best-regarded parks in Florida, at the far south end of the county
- North Bay Trail — 6.3 miles along the St. Petersburg waterfront, part of the loop
About the 75-Mile Loop
You’ll see the “Pinellas Trail Loop” advertised as a continuous 75-mile circuit connecting Tarpon Springs, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Clearwater, Safety Harbor, Largo, Seminole, South Pasadena, Gulfport and St. Petersburg. It’s a genuinely ambitious project and most of it exists today, assembled from the Pinellas Trail, the Duke Energy Trail, and the North Bay Trail.
But it isn’t quite closed yet. There’s a remaining section known as the South Gap, between the north end of the North Bay Trail near Riviera Bay Park in St. Petersburg and the south end of the Duke Energy Trail at Belleair Rd in Clearwater. Part of it is built; the rest is phased out over the next several years, with the final phase not expected to finish until the end of the decade.
What that means for you: you can ride enormous distances here without touching a road, but if you’re planning to circumnavigate the whole county in one go, check the current status first. Pinellas County publishes updates on the South Gap project.
Close to Our Seminole Rental
Guests staying at our Seminole property have two excellent parks within a couple of miles — both closer than anything on the main trail list.
🔭 Boca Ciega Millennium Park
12410 74th Ave N, Seminole. 186 acres and a genuine hidden gem. A 35-foot observation tower reached by elevated boardwalk gives panoramic views over Boca Ciega Bay. There’s a 1.5-acre dog park, a canoe and kayak launch, a quarter-mile nature trail, a playground, restrooms, seven picnic shelters, and paved bike and pedestrian paths. It’s a Great Florida Birding Trail site with a bird list of more than 175 species, running through pine flatwoods, coastal oak hammock, mangrove swamp, salt marsh and wetlands.
It’s also accessible from the Pinellas Trail via sidewalks from 74th Avenue N, so you can ride to it. Open seven days a week from 7am. Dogs are welcome on leash except on the boardwalks, observation deck and pavilions.
🚴 Lake Seminole Park
10015 Park Blvd, Seminole. 258 acres with a paved trail winding two miles through shaded pine flatwoods, set up as either a one-mile or two-mile loop with benches at the scenic spots. More than a dozen covered picnic areas, playgrounds, and public access to Lake Seminole.
Two things make this especially useful: Wheel Fun Rentals rents bikes and water bikes on site, and Sandy Feet Kayak Rentals will deliver a kayak to your launch spot. Wildlife spotting is good — alligators are often seen here, so keep an eye on children and dogs near the water.
Connecting Trails
Short links rather than destinations, but they’re what turns separate trails into a network:
- Bayshore Trail — connects the Ream Wilson Trail to the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail
- Druid Road Trail — east–west through Clearwater, joining the Duke Energy Trail
- Safety Harbor Bike Trail (Bayshore Linear Greenway) — about two miles from the Ream Wilson’s east end to Philippe Park
- Clearwater Beach Walk — a wide promenade along both sides of Gulfview Blvd, extending the Memorial Causeway ride
- Skyway Park Trail (Tampa) — 0.7 miles north to Skyway Park, 1.3 miles south to Cypress Point Park
- Edgewater Trail (Dunedin) — about three miles along Old Clearwater Bay
- North Bay Trail (St. Petersburg) — 6.3 miles of waterfront, part of the loop
- Honeymoon Island Causeway spur — leaves the Pinellas Trail at Curlew Road
- Weedon Island and Progress Energy trails — both connect to the Duke Energy Trail
Worth the Drive
- Honeymoon Island State Park — off the north end of the Pinellas Trail, with some of the best beach scenery in the state
- Fort De Soto Park — a paved multi-use trail through one of Florida’s best-regarded parks, at the far south end of the county
- Sawgrass Lake Park (St. Petersburg) — maple swamp and oak hammock on boardwalk loops, with a tower over the lake
- Weedon Island Preserve — boardwalks and paddling trails on Tampa Bay
- Upper Tampa Bay Trail — reachable from the Tampa end of the Courtney Campbell
- Florida Coast to Coast Trail — the Pinellas Trail is the westernmost segment of a route running more than 200 miles across the state to Titusville
- The Suncoast Trail — reachable by heading north off the Pinellas Trail via the Tri-County, Starkey Gap and Starkey Blvd trails through Starkey Wilderness Park
Which Ride Is Right for You?
| Young kids, or an hour to spare | Eagle Lake Park — closest to both rentals |
| Casual couple, cruiser bikes | Memorial Causeway to the beach, or Gulf Blvd through the beach towns |
| Shade on a hot day | Ream Wilson, or Eagle Lake Park |
| Half-day scenic ride | Courtney Campbell Causeway, out and back |
| Ride-to-lunch trip | Pinellas Trail north to Dunedin, or Ream Wilson east to Safety Harbor |
| Fitness miles | Duke Energy Trail — long, flat, few interruptions |
| Serious distance | Pinellas Trail end to end, or link the trails into a loop |
| Birding and boardwalks | Boca Ciega Millennium Park or Lake Seminole Park |
Getting Bikes
Most guests don’t travel with bicycles, and you don’t need to. Several local outfits rent by the day, week, or month, and some will deliver to your vacation rental and collect at the end of the stay — by far the easiest option.
Delivered to the door: Captain Bill’s Beach Bikes serves the beach communities and delivers. Green Iguana Rentals delivers bikes, e-bikes and beach gear.
On Clearwater Beach: Dreamrider bike share at the Residence Inn (app-based, available from 5am, which makes it the only realistic sunrise option), Fun Ride Rentals, and Clearwater Beach Scooter and Bike Rentals.
Near our Seminole rental: Wheel Fun Rentals at Lake Seminole Park rents bikes and water bikes on site — the most convenient option if you’re staying in Seminole.
Full-service shops (repairs, longer rentals, performance bikes): Chainwheel Drive and The Bike Shop on Drew St, Outspokin Bicycles and Electrified E-Bikes on Gulf to Bay Blvd.
Riding transit with a bike: PSTA buses and the Suncoast Beach Trolley both carry bicycles — ride one direction and take the bus back.
Riding in Florida: What to Know
☀️ Heat Is the Real Hazard
From May through September, ride at dawn or in the evening and skip the middle of the day entirely. The trails have very little shade in long stretches, and the humidity means you’ll dehydrate faster than the temperature suggests. Carry more water than you think you need — there are fountains along the Pinellas Trail, but don’t count on any specific one working.
⛈️ Watch the Afternoon Sky
Summer thunderstorms build fast in the afternoon and bring lightning with them. A causeway trail is the last place you want to be when one arrives, since there’s no shelter for miles. Check the radar before you leave and turn around early if towers are building inland.
🚦 Respect the Road Crossings
The Pinellas Trail crosses a lot of streets. Most are signalized, but drivers turning across the trail don’t always look. Slow down, make eye contact, and assume you haven’t been seen until you have been.
🪖 Helmets
Florida law requires helmets for riders under 16. Everyone else should wear one anyway.
🐊 Wildlife
You’ll see ospreys, herons, tortoises, and the occasional alligator sunning near a retention pond. Give everything room, especially anything with teeth. Snakes cross the trail on warm mornings and generally want nothing to do with you.
❄️ Season Matters
October through April is prime: mild, dry, and pleasant all day. It’s also the busiest, so trails get crowded on weekend mornings. Ride early or go midweek if you want the trail to yourself.
Getting to the Trail from Our Rentals
From our Largo rental (1731 Clearwater Harbor Dr): the Pinellas Trail is about 5–6 miles east — roughly fifteen minutes with bikes on the car. Walsingham Park and Taylor Park are the nearest trailheads. Eagle Lake Park is about twelve minutes.
From our Seminole rental (13189 87th Ave N): Boca Ciega Millennium Park and Lake Seminole Park are both within a couple of miles. Seminole City Park is the nearest Pinellas Trail access.
If you’d rather not drive at all, you can ride from either door — bike lanes run the full length of Gulf Blvd through the beach communities, and bike racks are common enough that locking up is rarely a problem.
More Information
Pinellas County Parks & Conservation Resources
Phone: (727) 582-2100
Friends of the Pinellas Trail
Trail maps, FAQs, and current conditions
A free pocket-size Guide to the Pinellas Trail is available at area libraries and the county courthouse information desk, and online.
Staying with us and planning to ride? Let us know — we’re happy to point you toward the right stretch of trail for your group, and we can help you sort out bike rental delivery before you arrive.
