You can’t walk, run or bike it just yet, but ambitious plans to link Tampa Bay with Naples are well on their way to being realized. The 420-mile Florida Gulf Coast Trail will be one of the longest continuous trails in Florida, linking seven counties and 52 rural, urban and suburban communities, including Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to Lee and Collier counties.
“Most people don’t really know much about the Florida Gulf Coast Trail,” said Charles Hines, who is leading the initiative for the Trust for Public Land. “City and county staff do, but most people just do the local trails in their communities. They know the Pinellas Trail or the Tampa Riverwalk and the Courtney Campbell trails, but they’re all connected and hopefully will be part of a much larger system one day.”
Along with the Florida Gulf Coast Trail, the Florida Coast to Coast Trail, which runs from St. Petersburg to Titusville on the east coast, is nearly 90% complete. The 250-mile-long trail, the first of its kind in the country, links several trails, including the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail.
Planning for the multi-county trails actually began in 1993 with the creation of a regional planning compact among the Metropolitan Planning Organizations in Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk and Sarasota counties to coordinate trails and prioritize funding.
The Pinellas Trail, which opened in 1990, kicked off the concept with the purchase of a former railroad corridor near the county’s eastern border. Plans are now underway to create a 75-mile loop that would swing down to south St. Petersburg, then run north near the county’s eastern border, connecting with the Howard Frankland Bridge.
In Hillsborough, multiple initiatives are underway as part of the regional trail systems that will eventually connect to both statewide trails. The most ambitious sections will connect a separate pathway for pedestrians and cyclists on the Howard Frankland Bridge, then run along Interstate 275 through downtown Tampa.
Plans are also underway to connect the current Courtney Campbell Causeway with the Howard Frankland Bridge, a 26-mile loop. “Just close those two little gaps and imagine how Visit Florida can promote an opportunity to cross the bay twice,” Hines said.
In Sarasota, the Legacy Trail follows a former rail line, connecting Fruitville Road to Venice with multiple stops in parks, including Oscar Scherer State Park.
“What’s really exciting is how everything is starting to come together with the Florida Gulf Coast Trail, how they all will connect with each other in one large piece rather than a trail here and trail there,” said Sally Thompson, who has been active with both the Hillsborough County Greenways Committee and the Florida Greenways & Trails Foundation for many years. “It gives us more leverage with both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, and FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation), which is working on I-275 and I-4 to bring everything together.”
The momentum is growing, Hines adds. “More and more people are recognizing the benefits of trails in terms of safety, access to the outdoors and economic development and tourism,” he said. “When the public sees the benefit of investing in these trails, they can work with partners like FDOT that understand how dangerous Southwest Florida can be when it comes to pedestrian safety. That makes them more willing to invest in overpasses and trails.”
By Vicki Parsons, originally published February 25, 2026
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