Page 12 - Rails tp Trails_Winter 2014
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Map Illustration
by Danielle Marks
Danielle Marks Design
364
Lakeview Drive
Hartfield, VA 23071-3110
804 238-1539
All artwork © 2013
Danielle Marks
Waltz
Key
Basin
Fort Zachary Taylor
Historic State Park
summerland
key
boca chica
key
F
L
O
R
I
D
A
most popular trail in the state, it will
eventually extend 106 miles from Key
Largo to Key West.
Eager for a break from winter, my
husband and I pack our bikes and head for
Florida and the FKOHT, hoping the new
trail will provide a great way to experience
the area’s unique ecology and history.
Dream Come True
It was the old railway, or what’s left of
it, that spurred development of the trail.
While most of the railway route has been
covered over by the highway, 23 historic
railway bridges remain throughout the
Keys. As they fell into disrepair, the trail
concept was born out of a desire to pre-
serve them.
Early on, the notion seemed almost as
fantastical as Flagler’s train to paradise.
“
The idea of the trail has always captured
people’s imagination,” says Ken Bryan,
Director of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s
(
RTC) Florida office. “For a long time
people were asking, ‘Could it ever be
done?’ In the Keys, there’s road and then
there’s water, so how was it feasible? It
took 20 years of support and invest-
ment—and a lot of champions—to bring
the trail into being.”
Then Florida Governor Lawton Chiles
created the Old Keys Bridges Task Force
in 1997 to consider ways to save the
bridges and keep them open for recre-
ation. The task force proposed building a
trail that would extend the length of the
Keys, incorporating the bridges and pro-
viding access to the islands’ many assets—
scenic, environmental, recreational, cul-
tural, historical and archaeological.
The next year, a public-private part-
nership began forging a master plan for
development and m inte ance of the
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail.
The plan—created by representatives of
Monroe County, Clean Florida Keys, the
Florida Department of Environmental
Protection (FDEP), the Florida
Department of Transportation (DOT),
the National Park Service and RTC, was
approved in 2000.
o build politi-
, secure fund-
ing for the mammoth project, and map
and construct the trail. Monroe County
Transportation Planner Trish Smith, who
served as project manager for the master
plan, underscores the challenges trail sup-
porters faced. “A lot of trail projects are
in remote areas,” she notes. “Ours is on
an evacuation route along a busy highway
Travel Facts
GETTING THERE:
The closest major airport
to the Florida Keys is Miami International;
air service is also available to KeyWest.
Greyhound Bus Lines and several local
transit companies provide ground trans-
portation to and through the Keys. An
inexpensive option is the Dade-Monroe
Express
which o
da
City (Miami) and Marathon, combined
with the Lower Keys Shuttl
com
),
which serves the route between
Marathon and KeyWest.
The FKOHT passes through the center
of each town, beginning in Key Largo,
and can be accessed anywhere along the
route, with parking available at visitor
centers and municipal lots.
WHEN TO GO:
Winter is an appealing
season for many to hightail it to the
Florida Keys, but it’s also the busiest and
most expensive time to be there. For an
alternative, try April, May and November
(
after the hurricane season ends). If pos-
sible, do your biking during the week, as
car traffic builds on the weekends. If you
plan to bike the trail one way only, travel
north to south, as you’ll almost always
ride with a tailwind.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO:
One of the handi-
est things about navigating the Keys is
that addresses everywhere, except within
Marathon city limits, are keyed to the
mile numbering system that begins at
Tourists walk along Duval
Street in Key West, an
area famous for its shops,
restaurants and bars.
rails
to
trails
u
winter.14
10
Sher Jasperse and her
husband take a break at
Bahia Honda State Park.
Sher Jasperse
