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with protected areas and businesses which
have been here for many years using the
right-of-way. So it’s a new paradigm, and
we worked hard to keep the trail out of
already used areas. There are so many sto-
ries of how we got it done. There are still a
few places where we’re scratching our heads
and saying, ‘What are we going to do here?’
But those places are getting smaller.”
A few businesses resisted the trail’s devel-
opment, citing concerns about vandalism
or traffic, Smith says, “even though studies
have shown over and over that it winds up
being a good thing. In other cases, business-
es were begging for the trail to go through
and setting up tables outside to attract rid-
ers. We’re not even finished, and the trail
already gets four times more use than other
trails in the state. The demand is there, and
we can’t build it quickly enough.”
Connecting Links
Designing, constructing and maintain-
ing the trail was the job of the FDEP’s
Office of Greenways & Trails, working
with the consortium of agencies as well
as local environmental, biking and run-
ning groups. As a project consultant, RTC
focused on community outreach and
acquiring funds. Like most major trails,
the FKOHT has relied on “a collage of
local, state and federal dollars,” says Bryan.
A turning point came when efforts to
improve Highway 1 and create the trail
were combined into a package deal. The
Highway 1 corridor is an official Florida
Scenic Highway as well as a nationally
designated All-American Road (the only
one in Florida), Smith explains. “When
we started the process in the late 1990s,
we knew the road and the trail were both
important. So we merged the trail and the
scenic highway into one project, which
helped a great deal with our funding.”
Existing local trails were cobbled
together with newly built portions,
restored railroad bridges and a few sec-
tions of old, lightly trafficked local roads.
The result is a continuous, paved path for
walkers and bikers that is off-road, except
for several highway bridges in places
where the old railway bridges could not
be used. The trail incorporates 16 fishing
bridges, and provides convenient access
for kayakers and others using the Florida
Keys Overseas Paddling Trail.
The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage
Trail is expected to be substantially com-
plete by spring of 2015. Even in its unfin-
ished state, it drew more than a million
visitors in 2012, according to the Florida
Park Service.
Bridges to Beautiful
When we first made plans to bike the
new trail, I heard reactions ranging from,
“
It’s the most beautiful place you’ll ever
bike” to, “Get your insurance in order;
you’re taking your life in your hands.”
The positive perspective is easy to
figure: The Keys offer a paradise of ocean
views, sandy beaches and nature pre-
serves. The cautionary note acknowledges
the fact that the Keys are also a haven for
margarita-drinking tourists who share the
road with bicyclists at various points.
“
I don’t think there’s anything like it,”
says Monica Woll, founder of the
Keys’ Paradise Paddlers & Pedalers
club and former trail specialist for
Florida’s Office of Greenways
&
Trails. “It’s flat, it’s warm,
and the scenery is incredible.
There are plenty of places
to stop, eat, use a restroom
or stay overnight. The trail
connects 10 state parks and
other natural areas.” That
endorsement is more than enough to get
us and our bikes to Key Largo, the north-
ernmost Key, for the start of our biking
adventure.
We divide our excursion into four
50-
mile days, biking from Key Largo to
Marathon, Marathon to Key West, and
back. The biking is easy, for the most part,
with the arching bridges presenting the
only hills. The tourist-friendly islanders
often wave us across intersections while
they wait in traffic. And we never feel
unsafe as we ride the 8-foot shoulders on
the highway bridges—even on the famous
Seven-Mile Bridge between Marathon and
Little Duck Key.
Like the highway it parallels—some-
times nearly side by side, sometimes
separated by greenway—the trail passes
through the heart of every island town
from Key Largo to Islamorada, Marathon,
Big Pine and Key West. There’s convenient
access to services everywhere—from bath-
rooms and bike shops to resort hotels and
the ubiquitous open-air tiki bars, which
make wonderful, shady places to stop for
lunch or a cool drink. In other words, this
is not a bike trip for someone who wants
to get away from it all.
That being said, several portions of the
FKOHT run through lush, park-like areas,
and the trail provides access to a host of
beautiful parks and beaches. The bridges
offer spectacular views of what remains the
Keys’ best feature—a sparkling landscape
of ocean, small atolls and charming harbor
areas. The old railway bridges add poi-
gnant glimpses of the Keys’ past.
One of the best places to view and learn
about the historic bridges and their rail-
road heritage is at the old Seven-Mile
Bridge just south of the town of
Marathon. The old bridge—locat-
ed parallel to the new Seven-Mile
(
Highway 1) Bridge—no lon-
ger crosses the entire distance
between Marathon and the
Lower Keys, but the remain-
ing portion is open for bike
and foot traffic to Pigeon Key,
The view from the roof of the La Concha Hotel, past the Key West
Courthouse and out over the Straits of Florida. Right, Noel and Gabriela
Ramirez of Coral Gables, Fla., enjoy the water at Bahia Honda State Park.
ALTrENDO/GETTY IMAGES