Biking Florida's Pensacola Bay Trail

This multi-use trail runs along Via de Luna Drive and Fort Pickens Road in Pensacola Beach, Florida.

It is on Santa Rosa Island, a couple miles from the mainland, just south of the town of Gulf Breeze. A toll bridge gets you to the island. The trail follows the road and later becomes a bike lane on the road. The road's speed limit is 35, so if you want to deal with vehicles, you can get a 50+ mile ride. The actual trail is not that lengthy.

Once you leave the town, you have views of the Gulf to your south and Pensacola Bay to your north, with white sand predominating. If you head west, you'll reach Fort Pickens, an interesting fort completed in 1834 and active until 1947.

There is no shade, so be sure to bring plenty of sunblock and water if you're heading on a long ride.

Also, be prepared for strong winds. There's not much around to block it!

 It mostly runs along the two roads but does offer great ocean views along the way - never straying more than about 100 yards from the Gulf-front and most of the time it is closer than that. 

Additionally, the trail continues to the bridge along Pensacola Beach Blvd towards Gulf Breeze from the intersection of Via de Luna Dr and Fort Pickens Rd. The bridge is bicycle and pedestrian friendly but there's not much once you get past the bridge area in Gulf Breeze for biking. Walking/running is supported via standard sidewalks beyond that area.

Parking can be found:

• At the corner of Via De Luna and Fort Pickens Rd
• At the western end of the trail at the Park West area
•  Approximately .75 miles from the eastern end of the trail at the public beach parking lots

Alabama's Chief Ladiga Trail

Alabama's Chief Ladiga Trail runs 33 paved miles on the former Seaboard/CSX right-of-way from Anniston to the Georgia border where it connects to the 61 mile long Silver Comet Trail. Both trails have been celebrated as "Hall of Fame Trails" by The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and together represent the second longest continuous paved rail trail in the country (after Minnesota's Paul Bunyan State Trail's 112 miles.) This trail was an 18 year, multi-city and multi-jurisdictional cooperative project. It is named for the Creek Indian chief who signed the 1832 treaty that surrendered the tribe's remaining land in the area. Below is the trailhead at Anniston's Woodland Park. The trail begins slightly above grade but soon is at ground level as it traverses woods, prairies, wetlands, a college, and several small towns. The trail is flat, smooth, scenic, mostly-shaded, and well-maintained.

Entrance to each town on the trail is marked by these attractive signs...

It was late March and green and pink foliage was breaking forth...

...and the kudzu probably would soon be awakening, too...

The trail passes through the Jacksonville State University Campus alongside the fraternity and sorority buildings.

The old Jacksonville train depot was restored in 2010...

Mileage markers let you know where you are...

I was on my way home, driving from the Everglades back to northern Illinois, and was time-limited to only a 20 mile round trip on the trail, but I'll be hitting another section of this lovely trail on my next trip. I'm especially anxious to do the northern section that traverses the Talladega National Forest.


You can reach the Anniston Trailhead by taking exit 185 north from I-20 through Anniston on Route 1, then onto McClellan/Route 21, then left onto Weaver Road, and finally left on Holly Farms Road to Woodland Park.

You can also park in Jacksonville and Piedmont.

Fort Pickens at Florida's Gulf Islands National Seashore

Florida's Gulf Islands National Seashore  preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. One of the historic resources is Fort Pickens.

Pensacola Bay in Florida's Panhandle had long been considered a vital port with its depths ranging from twenty to sixty-five feet and its length of 12 miles. The Treaty of 1819 with Spain ceded the area to the United States, and by 1825, legislation was passed to establish a naval yard and depot on the bay. Fortifications to protect the bay were deemed vital and Ft. Pickens and its sister forts were built.

The best location for a fort was on the western point of Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island which provided natural protection to the bay and mainland Florida, and also commanded the approaches to the channel. 

In May of 1828, the government acquired 998 acres on the island and workers broke ground in May of 1829, finishing in October of 1834. Workers consisted of both skilled mechanics and unskilled laborers, many of whom were slaves rented from their masters. 

Here's a photo taken during its construction...

The fort was named for Brigadier General Andrew Pickens of South Carolina who fought in the Revolutionary War. The fort was de-commissioned in 1947.

Over 21 million bricks were used in its construction, making it the largest brick structure on the Gulf of Mexico. It contained the latest technologies in coastal defense, design and, weaponry and made America virtually impregnable -- for a time.

Fort Pickens was of a Pentagonal design, with broader western walls to provide a wide range of fire over the bay.

The fort had a counterscarp to the east side to create a defensive moat in the event that a land invasion came from the west. The westernmost Bastions were also equipped with chambers filled with explosives which could be detonated as a last-ditch-effort to save the fort from invaders.

This U.S. Seacoast 32-pounder smoothbore cannon, cast in 1823, could fire a 32 pound solid shot over a mile, shooting through the embasure (opening) in the outer wall.

The diagram shows how the recoil was absorbed on the wooden platform...

The fort remained in Northern hands during the Civil War, and that was the only time its guns were fired. In November of 1861, the Union troops at Fort Pickens bombarded Confederates who had occupied Forts McRee and Barrancas across the bay. The confederates fired back but the Union prevailed, and the confederates left their posts in the spring of 1862 needing their troops elsewhere. The number and caliber of guns and weight of metal brought into action in this battle rank with the heaviest bombardments in the world's history!

New technology in weapons required replacing the guns with the massive 15-inch Rodman smoothbore which was installed in 1868. It weighed 50,000 pounds and had a maximum effective range of three miles. Its 15-inch explosive shell weighed about 300 pounds, or it could fire a 400 pound solid shot. The circular iron tracks allowed it to fire in any direction. 8 and 10 inch Rodmans were also installed, but all these were gradually replaced by rifled, breech-loading artillery by the late 1880s.

The fort was also on the brink of war with Spain after the USS Maine was sunk in Havana Harbor, Cuba, in February of 1898. Fearing the new torpedo boats, the Corps of Engineers mined the harbor entrance. The system remained until a hurricane damaged it in 1926.

But the fort had become antiquated by the 1890s because the latest rifled artillery could penetrate its brick walls, so in 1898 the fort was updated with reinforced concrete and steel walls. The addition was called Battery Pensacola and was actually a fort within the existing fort. It had two 12-inch rifles on carriages seen below. After firing, the gun could disappear behind walls. Its 1070 pound shells could hit ships eight miles away! 

The fort's brick walls and cast-iron guns became obsolete. Harbor defenses required steel guns in low-lying concrete batteries, so Battery Trueman with 3 inch, rapid fire guns was commissioned in 1905. These guns were later moved to the newer Battery Cullum in 1943 to protect against German U-Boats.

Several other batteries were later added to the island as separate installations, and the fort provided protection during both World Wars I and II.

The most powerful guns were Battery Langdon's 12 inch projectiles which could be fired 17 miles out to sea. It is reported that many soldiers would bleed from the mouth and ears because of the concussion from these guns.

Battery Langdon was begun in 1917 and completed in 1923. It was covered with soil and foliage during World War II to camouflage it from enemy aircraft.

Volunteers offer re-enactments of cannon firing...

I took all these photos when I was here for a week of volunteer trail work on the Florida Trail whose northern terminus is at Fort Pickens. Here's a sunset photo I took while there...

Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park is our 61st and newest national park!

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was authorized by Congress in 1966 and was elevated to national park status in February, 2019. The park runs for nearly 15 miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, from Gary to Michigan City,  and comprises approximately 15,000 acres including oak savannas, dunes, swamps, bogs, marshes, prairies, rivers, and forests. Hikers can enjoy over 50 miles of trails.

The National Park has acquired about 95% of the property within the authorized boundaries. Its holdings are non-contiguous and do not include the 2,182-acre Indiana Dunes State Park which was created by the state of Indiana in 1926.

People have lived in the dunes area for over 10,000 years, and the park is home to over 1100 native plants, ranking it fourth in plant diversity in the park system.

The park is also home to 46 species of mammals, 18 of amphibians, 23 reptiles, 71 fish, 60 butterflies, and 60 of dragonflies and damselflies. The white-tailed deer is the largest herbivore and the coyote is the largest predator. 352 species of birds have been identified and a blue heron rookery is present. 

Immediately inland from the beaches, the sand dunes rise almost 200 feet forming ridges, blowouts, and valleys, and extensive wetlands fill many depressions between dune ridges. The park contains at least four major stages of historic shoreline making it one of the most extensive geologic records of one of the world's largest freshwater bodies.