I just finished this off road trail from Key Largo to Key West for the third January in a row. Many bikers ride the narrow shoulder for the entire 106 miles from Key Largo to Key West including the 7 mile bridge, but I prefer the safety of the about 70 miles of off highway trail based on the old RR bridges and the byways of old Route 4A as well as trail along sidewalks. I stay in motels, park the car and ride in both directions. Often the wind is bad on the rides to the east. In the past year the Florida State Office of Greenways for the trail has completed several new sections including Casey Key and Ramrod Key. In the later section they use highway bridges but ones with a very wide shoulder. This web site has a linkage to their web site where a map is available. Youker

I did most of this trail again in January 2010 based in a rented condo in Marathon. I just want to add that they are constructing three new sections at Craigs Key, the east end of Grassy Key and some bridges in the lower Keys. There are also several routes off the basic trail for additional cycling. All are marked on the excellent map from the Florida Greenways and Trails web site or in the brochure available from the various visitors center in the Keys. Youker

I finished the trail Jan 26, 2009. I highly recommend the sections with a separate paved path and I do not recommend those sections where you must ride on the narrow sholders with heavy truck traffic going by which I did not do, although I met several thru bikers who did put themselves at risk. Being alone I would park my car and bike a section going both ways. The wind was bad every day on the west to east sections. I stayed in motels in Key Largo and Big Pine Key. At the end I biked the full circle of Key West parking at the old fort Taylor. Each of the five main keys has a visitors center for rest stops and there are also many state parks with facilities. The 2 mile long Long Key Bridge and the 2 mile bridge to Pigeon Key were especially scenic. Youker

The trail improves significantly as you travel away from Key Largo.
Traveling from Big Pine Key to Key West is great although some of the ride is on the highway shoulder. Ride Early to avoid the traffic.

"My wife and I rode our recumbents on the Overseas Heritage Trail this afternoon. We began our ride in Key Largo and rode south for about seven miles.

The trail is right next to US1, a major highway. It's too noisy with cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc. in close proximity. The trail is in serious need of repair. There are holes, rocks and bumps all over the place.

The only nice part of the ride is that we decided to turn off the trail every chance we got and rode down nice quiet neighborhoods. We enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch down the end of one street that led to the water.

I would rate this portion of the trail as poor. Hopefully it gets nicer further south."