The Pinellas Trail is close to where I live, so it's the trail I use the most. It's a wonderful asset to the area.

Pros: Food, bike shops and (heaven forbid) hospitals are all near the trail.

Cons: The area is very populated and there are many cross roads. However, bridges cross many of the most heavily traveled roads. be careful and obey traffic signs and control devices.

I park my car south of Downtown Clearwater, which is about half-way in the trail. In that way, I can use my car as a SAG Station as I double-back down the trail.

The south end of the trail was extended from US 19 (South 34th Street) to Demens Landing, on the waterfront in downtown St. Petersburg. This added a few extra miles to the trail, which is now, I believe, somewhat longer than the 34 miles listed on this site.

There are many areas to stop, rest and have a chat with other weekend athletes.

While another writer noted that there was a mugging on the southern most section of the trail, I have not had problems. It's not an area, however, that I care to take a rest in.

I had the pleasure of riding this trail on Thursday, March 19, 2009 and did make the ride from the starting point in St. Pete to the end in Tarpon Springs, as well as the return.

First the pros: There are some very beautiful parts to this ride, and the bridges and crossings do offer very panoramic views. The path is beautifully marked. You are never far from refreshments and I think there were at least a half dozen bike shops right on the path in the case of an emergency. There were very nice parks along the way to stop and stretch. The ride through the towns of Dunedin and Tarpon Springs was excellent.

The cons: The beginning of the ride, mabey about 4-5 miles in goes through a tough area. A few days before my ride I understand there was a mugging on the path, and I could clearly see the poetential for trouble as I went through this area, but only for a mile or so. I would use caution at this point in the ride. There are to many breaks in the ride for the avid distance rider, lots of stop and go at intersections.

I highly recommend this ride for touring riders as well as the serious rider. Very enjoyable and scenic, and perfect for family rides and for the kids as well.

It looks like it has been a long time since anything got posted here. As I was reading through some of the posts, I noticed a lot of people are not from the area. My wife and I are avid cyclist, and have ridden many trails. The Pinellas trail is pretty typical of the trails we have been on. Currently they have some sections closed due to resurfacing and fixing bridges.

http://www.pinellascounty.org/trailgd/default.htm.

Check there for the latest closings and information on the trail.

We normally drive to the section we want to ride, so here are a few good places to get on the trail. Curlew road and Alt 19. There is a shopping center on the north west corner of the intersection. Park there and pick up the trail on the east side of Alt 19. We did that and headed south.

Another good place to dump in is at Taylor Park in Largo. That is a beautiful park with full facilities and plenty of parking.

At the Southern most end of the trail, there is a little park. It's a little hard to find, and the neighborhood is a little rough, but for the most part, you should be okay as long as you do it early like I did on a Saturday morning. If you dump in there and head north, about 2 miles you will see a cemetary on the right. It has some pretty big pine trees there. Stop and look in the tops of the trees. There are a couple of Eagles nests in the tops. I went the day after black Friday, and got to see the babies being fed.

My favorite sections were Crystal Beach, North Dunedin, Dunedin, Largo, North Seminole, and the Bay Pines Area.

Least liked was the section through downtown Clearwater at that point it really isn't a trail. You ride the sidewalks and the curbs crossing the streets are really rough for our road bikes. The only good thing about the downtown section was Pickles Plus. You have to get off the trail and head toward the water. There is a large Steinmart at the corner of Pierce St and S Osceola Ave which is about a block or two west of the trail. It is right next to Coachman Park. Right behind Steinmart is the Pickles Plus Deli. They make the best sandwiches I have had in a while.

All in all this is a nice trail to ride. We broke it up in to 8 to 10 mile sections due to other obligations, and did the whole trail in 2 weekends.