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Two days after riding from Rosemary Beach to Seacrest and back (see "Not Close To Its Potential"), we returned and rode the section from Watercolor to Grayson Highlands State Park and back. This section has been significantly improved. Although still too narrow and unlined, the asphalt is smooth and adequately separated from the roadway, with new bridges. Someone needs to pay for similar improvements from Watercolor east. If they do, this would be a 4 or 5 star ride.
We rode 8 miles of this "trail", from the unmarked east end in Rosemary Beach to Seaside Beach, and back. This "trail", for most of the distance we rode, is just a very narrow glorified sidewalk, ill-maintained and in places downright dangerous. Parts of the "trail" are simply road shoulders, with no more than a few feet of separation from opposite direction vehicle traffic. That some vehicles have in the past entered the "trail" was evident from the bent-over rubber posts supposedly delineating the edge of the "trail" / road.
We passed at least a dozen bicycle rental outlets, each with hundreds of bikes. We were told that during peak vacation periods most of those bikes would be out on the "trail", with many very young and at times unsteady riders capable of veering into oncoming bicycle or vehicular traffic. While it was not busy during our ride, we saw no one else wearing helmets.
Between the bicycle concessionaires, the owners of the very valuable adjoining properties, the restaurants and other business profiting from trail users, the municipalities through which 30A passes and the county road commission, sufficient funds should available to (1) widen the trail to a minimum of 10', (2) repave the entire trail, (3) add appropriate paint markings and a center division line, and (4) install guardrails between the highway and the trail where the trail cannot be moved away from the road.
Given its premium location, this "trail" has the potential for perfection. At present, it isn't even close.
I was greatly disappointed in this trail. An 18-mile, paved trail sounds so wonderful, but the reality was a different story. It has so much potential, it is a shame that it wasn't better designed and isn't better maintained. Mountain bikers, walkers and joggers might find this trail ok, but there is a reason all the road-bikes were on the road and not on the trail, and someone on inline skates would not be able to use most of the parts of the trail we experienced (the 6.5 miles on the southeast section).
Having read the reviews of how busy and crowded this trail tends to be, we set out early on Christmas morning to enjoy this trail. We started at the southeast end of the trail, planning to ride our Trikkes at least 10 miles before turning around. The trail was so poor, we gave up in frustration at 6.5 miles, and Trikked back to the car. Perhaps further on the trail we would have encountered better conditions, but we were too tired of trying to navigate bad conditions to find out.
The trail is amazingly inconsistent. Some areas are narrow sidewalks, others are wider asphalt. A few sections are smooth, but too many sections are bumpy, with cracked asphalt that is heaving.
Much of the trail is below the level of the road, with little-to-no vegetation to stop the runoff of sand, dirt, rocks and debris, across the trail. Some sections are actually the shoulder of the road, with only flexible plastic pipes, sticking up perpendicular from the road, to divide the trail from the roadway, with cars and trucks flying by.
At various points, the property owners are watering the trail with their underground sprinkler system, creating puddles as deep as 2 inches. The design of the trails did not provide for drainage.
The one real plus is that in the morning, most of the trail is shaded, which would be wonderful on hot summer mornings.
The area near Alys Beach was beautiful. While I understand the money isn't available to have all 18 miles that nice, there is a lot that could be done with this trail to make it more enjoyable.
Today we drove up to Port St. Joe's to ride the Loggerhead Run Bike Path. This trail is not fancy, but it is more consistent, well designed for drainage and sand control, and a delight to ride, albeit with little shade. Those who designed and maintain the Timpoochee Trail could take some lessons from them. I only wish we had booked our accommodations near Port St. Joe's- but now we know for our next trip to the region.
The description for this trail says 7.7 miles, but it actually about 8.7 miles, end to end.
We parked at the Salinas Park which had clean restrooms, and is located across the street from the South Gulf County Volunteer Fire Department.
We road our Trikkes (see Trikke.com for more info about Trikkes) out to the end of the trail, which is at the entrance to the St. Joseph Peninsula State Park.
The trail runs right next to the road, is about 6 feet wide, and for most of the trail it is marked with center white lines to denote lanes for oncoming cyclists and pedestrians.
The surface is smooth and clean for the majority of the trail. One section, between mile-marker 6 and 7, is lacking enough vegetation between the road and the trail, so that area had several spots that were covered in mud or sand. This is hazardous for those on inline-skates or riding a Trikke.
There is little to no shade, and at parts it felt like we were in a wind tunnel, but overall, it was a nice trail.
If we were there during busier times, and needed to pass pedestrians and there was oncoming traffic, I might have found the trail to be a bit narrow, but today the trail was pretty empty.
Given the number of recent deaths of cyclists and pedestrians, nationwide, due to inattentive driving, adding rumble strips along the edge of the road on the side of the trail, would increase safety.
Overall, I say, "Kudos and thank you to the folks who made this trail happen!"
First, before I give the negative about this ride, let me state I am very grateful that we have trails like this one in the United States where we don't have to risk getting run over by a car. This trail is very bumpy. If you have 38 or larger tires, then air them down for comfort. If you are a roadie with 23 or 25mm tires, I think you may not be happy about this ride. If you want to go fast, it may be a problem as the trail can be very crowded at times and the people walking or riding seem to be inconsiderate about sharing the trail. Many times I had to come to a complete stop because no matter what bell I rang or what words I said had no affect, the people made no attempt to clear a path for us to get through. The beaches were right next to us, but you cannot see them for all the buildings. Not a scenic ride as you would expect. But I did get to burn a lot of calories. There are stops along the way for food, drinks, etc. Just chill on this ride and you can enjoy it. I would ride it again if I visit this area in the future.
Spent the week riding on the Timpoochee Trail/30A Trail and loved it. Recommend that you get out early to avoid the traffic. It is a multi-use trail (bike and peds) so please be aware of this when riding on the trail. Trail is perfect for a fixie, mtn bike or a cruiser. Not recommend for a road bike. Did like that there are many stops for a water bottle refill or a bite to eat. Highly recommend checking out the food trucks in Seaside just below Watercolor. There are also some trails in the Watercolor/Seaside beach area that are a nice way to see the development. All in all enjoy my rides on the trail and recommend it.
I did about 18 miles of this trail on a Thursday. It is the most crowded trail I've ever seen. People walking, running, families with strollers, groups of people walking slowly drinking coffee, eating ice cream and oblivious to the fact that it is a bike trail. The trail itself is rough in spots and poorly maintained.maintained
My husband and I did this trail on a beautiful day in March 2016. I think the idea behind the trail is wonderful and will go back to see if there are any more paved trails.
The short paths that are paved require a lot of back and forth. The trails in the conservation area were too dangerous to ride on regular bikes (great for off road bikes)! I think the plan is to pave some more of these trails and that would be great.
We found it difficult to actually locate the entrance to the trail. It is in Frank Brown park but the signage off Hwy 98 is poor. Lots of signs for beaches but none to this park.
Once you are at the park, again, no evidence of where the trails are or how to access them. Fortunately the park office was open and someone there helped us.
Good for Panama City mayor for promoting this activity!
A nice trail on a sunny mid-week day but super busy on a lovely day. Easy to ride along; gentle inclines and wide paths. Lots of places to stop and admire the view and quaint little places to rest or get refreshments. My new favourite place is Rosemary Beach. A delightful place!
As long as you don't start this trail expecting untamed wilderness, then you should enjoy it. It meanders through multiple small beachfront communities with a number of views to the Gulf of Mexico and the unique coastal dune lakes. This is a tourist area so there WILL be novice bicyclists and pedestrian traffic, but not enough to significantly detract from the experience. The (asphalt) trail does cross a number of (concrete) driveways so it can get rough at the transition between surfaces, but I have ridden this trail with my dad on his Trek road bike and he didn't have any problems. Very enjoyable with ample opportunities for water, food, or other items you may need.
My adult daughter and I live fairly near here but had never tackled this "official" trail, until last week. We parked near the western end and went 15 miles where we decided that 30 miles roundtrip for the day was enough. Had we realized how close to the western end we were we probably would've gone all the way. Even though it's the off-season there was a bit of activity near the Rosemary Beach and Seaside areas, but not bad. Most of the trail was relatively quiet even for a sunny Saturday afternoon. We even stopped several times to watch deer crossing the trail near one of the state parks on the trail. We stopped a few other times to take some photos of the wildlife near several of the lakes that you will bridge across. Some of these lakes are ecologically very unique but I won't bore you with details here.
The surface varied some but never very bad, always better than riding along most road shoulders. We did have about 5 feet of soft sand but we zipped on through it, most was asphalt with some concrete. It does cross over Highway 30A a few times but traffic was light (and slow). For a state as flat as people think of Florida it does have some rolling hills at times, although elevation change is still never more than 15-20' I would think.
There are plenty of bike shops along the route but most appear to be more of beach cruiser rental shops for the tourists. We did see one "real" shop but had no real reason to stop.
You also will have plenty of chances for food or cold brews along the way, but be prepared that it is a tourist location. Two hot dogs and locally-brewed bottle beers set us back $28 from a walk-up window. The location was about 5' off the bike path so it was certainly convenient. It was near the end of our ride so the break was worth it.
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