Biking the Sunshine State
The Florida Keys are one of our favorite places to go with Great Bike Tours. Full of history, culture, and unique ecosystems, the Keys are just too much to take in in one trip. After one of our cycle tours, you’ll want to come back again and again! Today, we’ve gathered a list of some of the natural wonders you can experience with us that are unique to the Keys.
How Great Bike Tours Does the Keys
While in the Keys, we spend most of our time biking along the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail. This trail stretches along a 106-mile span close to U.S. Highway 1, and National Scenic Byway. We pass through some of the United States’ most iconic landscapes, like the Everglades, and visit plenty of stops along the way. This tour is an easy ride, making it accessible for a wide range of ages and fitness levels. We like to bike in the Keys in January, when the crowds are gone and the temperature is just right.
Key Attractions
If you’ve been looking for an excuse to cycle the Florida Keys, we’ve got plenty! We’ll get the wind in our hair on a bike bridge spanning azure waters, float along with the manatees on a kayak, and whiz by alligators sunning themselves in the Everglades.
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The first of its kind in the United States, this undersea park spans about 70 square nautical miles and includes precious natural assets like mangrove forests and living coral reefs. The park offers glass-bottomed boat tours, snorkeling, scuba diving, and a large aquarium at the Visitor Center.
- Mangrove swamps. Mangroves are unique trees that serve a myriad of purposes, like creating a haven for young fish, crustaceans, and reptiles, offering shelter and nesting space for local birds, and providing protection to the land itself. Mangrove forests play a vital role in conserving topsoil, lessening wind erosion, and minimizing flood damage.
- The Dolphin Research Center. The Center was founded to rehabilitate marine mammals, conduct research, and educate the public. Animals like bottlenose dolphins and sea lions call the facility home, and you can meet the current residents, and fall in love with their toothy grins.
- The Turtle Hospital. Opened in 1986, the Turtle Hospital has rehabilitated over 1,500 sea turtles and returned them to the wild. Staff advocate for research and environmental protection legislation to reduce pollution and habitat loss. Follow their social media to keep updated on the current patients and each happy occasion when turtles are released back to their ocean home.
Florida Trails are Waiting for You!
Contact us today to see, smell, hear, taste, and touch firsthand the best our Earth has to offer while biking in the Florida Keys. Nothing beats our careful planning and personal touch. We always put our guests first, and we’re always looking for new ways to make our bike trips unique, stimulating, accommodating, and most of all, fun.
