Biking Florida's Yarborough Trail

The Yarborough Trail follows the Ten Mile Canal on the eastern edge of Ft. Myers, Florida. It is a paved trail and runs 5 miles from Colonial Blvd. to Six Mile Cypress Parkway. It is just west of the busy Metro Parkway (Hwy. 679), which is west of I-75.

You'll find this scenic tree-lined trail a nice getaway from the nearby urban landscape. There are some road crossings, but only Daniels Road is a major hassle. The "official" trail takes you about a half mile west to a traffic signal and then back east on the other side of Daniels.  If you are in a hurry like some I saw, they simply cut across Daniels at the trail.

Here's one of the rest areas along the route...

I enjoyed several sightings of gators and many sightings of waterfowl including heron, egrets,  muscovy ducks, this moorhen... 

... and even this osprey which caught a fish in the canal right in front of me and then re-aligned the fish to aerodynamically carry it to its nest...   

The Seminole-Gulf Railway, which hauls freight and has excursion passenger service, including a popular Murder Mystery Trail that includes dinner and a show, runs alongside the trail, and you pass their engine and passenger yard as you bike the trail.  And talk about various transportation modes in one area -- besides a bike trail and rail line, across the canal is a Metro bus storage facility and an airport!

Parking is available at the Lee County Sports Complex at the trail's south end.  I parked at a gravel lot on Daniels Parkway, just west of Metro Parkway. The lot is not marked as parking so watch for it -- it's just (and I mean just several feet) west of where Daniels crosses the  single railroad track.