rje58_too

I did a forum search and found some info on the above areas, but most of it was 10 to 14 years old.

Does anybody have information about the best places to ride around Tallahassee, Panama City or Marianna? We will be spending several days in that region in the second half of February. We prefer to ride on MUPs or other places that avoid most of the traffic, but we don't mind road crossings or occasional short connections along roadways, as long as they are not too crowded and/or dangerous.

Thanks in advance!

Juan Foote

Few things I would suggest.

Go to Google Maps and click the "cycling" filter and you will see all bike paths and routes.

Go to Strava and look for posted ride routes for the area(s). Often best to seek out routes that have lots of people in the leaderboard/standings.

Alternately, you could also see if you can locate bike shops in those places, call to see if they have suggestions or even a ride you could join.

jon c. 

I live about 10 miles east of Tallahassee and ride the country roads outside my door. Beautiful roads with little traffic. There is popular MUP that runs from the city to the gulf. The section from Capital Circle to the gulf is about 15 miles one way and there's a parking lot at the trailhead. A nice scenic path that would probably be your best bet.

The trail continues another 6 miles or so up to the university campus, but that section is lightly traveled and runs adjacent to a neighborhood with high crime stats so I wouldn't recommend it. I wouldn't be afraid to ride it during the day myself though. There's also an MUP parallel to Capital Circle running NNE from the trailhead lot, but the MUP to the gulf is much more attractive.

Not sure about Panama City but Panama City Beach has an MUP that's runs parallel to back beach road (98) to the north. That connects with an MUP that runs along 79 north to the bay. 10 miles or so west of Panama City Beach is 30A, which has become home to some higher end resorts. It has an MUP alongside the road that might be okay in February. 25 years ago it was a great ride but there are 10x as many people now and the MUP is too crowded to ride most of the year. But late February is slow and it would probably make for nice casual riding. Would still be too crowded for fast roadies.

Never ridden in Marianna but it's a small town and like much of the panhandle I would not expect the rural roads to have much traffic.

rje58_too

Thanks Juan Foote and jon c. ! I appreciate your input!

jon c. 

Also occurs to me that the Southwood development on the east side of Tallahassee has something like 25 miles of MUPs winding through it. Never ridden them but I play golf there and cross a couple. Not very crowded except in the central area near the pooi and tennis courts. Might be convenient depending on where you're staying.

rje58_too

Great info, jon c.! Thanks again!

Ex Pres 

Emerald Coast Cyclists have some routes posted here: https://www.sites.google.com/site/em...sts/club-rides

I think most of these are road, not sure. But when I've ridden with them (admittedly a few years back) the routes were not high-traffic.


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rje58_too

I really want to express my appreciation to everyone here, and especially jon c. for great info and suggestions about our trip to Tallahassee and Panama City areas!

Here is what we ended up riding:

2/7 - 36.2 miles on the Tallahassee to St. Marks Trail! Trail was in good condition, no real issues. Plenty of bathrooms. Had a great seafood lunch (not too heavy, my wife and I split it) on the waterfront in St. Marks before the return trip.
2/8 - 20.6 miles - Southwood Greenspace (Tallahassee) and surrounding area - nice bike trails, only about six or seven miles of greenway trails, so we also rode on the adjoining streets in the neighboroods, which weren't very busy. Had a good lunch at Canopy Road Cafe during our ride.
2/9 - 9.45 miles - JR Alford Greenway - single track and dirt trails / dirt roads - didn't quite realize what we were getting into with this one, but it turned out to be great fun. 9 miles here was as much of a workout as our 20-mile days on greenways.
2/11 - 20.3 miles - Gayle's Trails and Conservation Park - Panama City, FL - very nice - Gayle's Trails is paved and Conservation Park was hardpack dirt that was easy to ride on our street hybrids
2/12 - 23.2 miles - 30A/Timpoochee Trail and Topsail State Park - South Walton, FL - Topsail State Park has some great paved bike paths, but only 3-4 miles of them. 30A/Timpoochee was in pretty good condition, somewhat crowded even on a weekday in February! Had a great day riding here, but would not recommend trying this one on bikes on weekends, or probably even not weekdays except during January and February, maybe early March. 30A/Timpoochee follows right next to 30A, so don't expect any peace and quiet, but there are some nice views of the ocean in places, and you'll see lots of shops, eateries and upscale homes and condos.

If anybody has questions about our experiences on any of these bike paths, just let me know.