I had been intrigued by the Pinellas Trail since I learned of it several months ago.
The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail runs 34 miles from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs, pretty much the length of Pinellas County, along an abandoned railway grade.
This clearly is an urban trail. I had been told that it crossed busy intersections and was not terribly interesting, but we were compelled to give it a try. We got up early and drove 50 miles to east Tampa and breakfasted at the Crown Club at Lazydays (any excuse to get to the Crown Club!). After breakfast we encountered our biggest challenge: actually getting to the trial. We had decided to do the the northern third of the trail from Curlew to Tarpon Springs. It is almost 30 miles from Lazydays to Curlew and it took almost an hour and a half to get there. Most of that time was spent on I-4 and I-275 in stopped traffic. We finally arrived at the trail and put on at Curlew Road at MP 25. Once we got onto the trail I was pleased to find that it was very enjoyable. There is a separate lane for pedestrians, so conflicts with the foot soldiers are minimized. There were a number of minor cross streets, but at most crossings motor vehicles were required to stop before crossing the trail. Most actually did stop. There were also a couple of major thoroughfares to be crossed. The end of the trail at MP 34.5 was fairly anti-climatic. The last mile weaved through a subdivision and then just ended. We reversed our course but took the spur into the North Anclote River Nature Park. The spur trail was a dead end, but we bushwacked through the preserve to the other side and pedaled to the
Tarpon 
Springs Sponge Docks. Tarpon Springs has rich heritage in sponge diving by the Greek community. I had visited Tarpon Springs over 20 years ago and found it very quaint and interesting. As usual, things change, and today we found it to be very touristy and glitzy. On our return we also stopped at Wall Springs County Park, which was the highlight stop on our ride. It featured an historic spring, a nature trail and an observation tower overlooking Tampa Bay. After a total of about 24 miles, we returned to the car and endured another grueling cross-town drive to the Crown Club for dinner. It was a very enjoyable ride, and I can certainly recommend the Pinellas Trail, if you can get to it.
This clearly is an urban trail. I had been told that it crossed busy intersections and was not terribly interesting, but we were compelled to give it a try. We got up early and drove 50 miles to east Tampa and breakfasted at the Crown Club at Lazydays (any excuse to get to the Crown Club!). After breakfast we encountered our biggest challenge: actually getting to the trial. We had decided to do the the northern third of the trail from Curlew to Tarpon Springs. It is almost 30 miles from Lazydays to Curlew and it took almost an hour and a half to get there. Most of that time was spent on I-4 and I-275 in stopped traffic. We finally arrived at the trail and put on at Curlew Road at MP 25. Once we got onto the trail I was pleased to find that it was very enjoyable. There is a separate lane for pedestrians, so conflicts with the foot soldiers are minimized. There were a number of minor cross streets, but at most crossings motor vehicles were required to stop before crossing the trail. Most actually did stop. There were also a couple of major thoroughfares to be crossed. The end of the trail at MP 34.5 was fairly anti-climatic. The last mile weaved through a subdivision and then just ended. We reversed our course but took the spur into the North Anclote River Nature Park. The spur trail was a dead end, but we bushwacked through the preserve to the other side and pedaled to the Tarpon 
Springs Sponge Docks. Tarpon Springs has rich heritage in sponge diving by the Greek community. I had visited Tarpon Springs over 20 years ago and found it very quaint and interesting. As usual, things change, and today we found it to be very touristy and glitzy. On our return we also stopped at Wall Springs County Park, which was the highlight stop on our ride. It featured an historic spring, a nature trail and an observation tower overlooking Tampa Bay. After a total of about 24 miles, we returned to the car and endured another grueling cross-town drive to the Crown Club for dinner. It was a very enjoyable ride, and I can certainly recommend the Pinellas Trail, if you can get to it.
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