What’s the best thing about biking around Panama City Beach? The land is almost perfectly flat, so anybody can enjoy biking here.

Feeling exhausted after a few days of commuting back and forth between the beach? Biking around Panama City Beach is a great way to explore and see things that just fly by in a blur when you are in a car. Add a little pedal power to your beach excursion and burn a few calories while you tick off some of the most popular sites along the Real. Fun. Beach.

Located on 2,912 acres, the Panama City Beach Conservation Park was developed to protect the area’s natural resources and to encourage Panama City Beach residents and visitors to head outdoors and enjoy the incredible scenery found in this unique part of the country. And what better way to see Gulf Coast cypress domes than to bike or walk the Panama City Beach Conservation Park’s more than 24 miles of trails and boardwalks? The 12 designated trails that are found in the Panama City Beach Conservation Park range in length from less than a mile to 11 miles long. An additional mile of boardwalks through the park’s wetlands allows birders unparalleled opportunities to view migrating and resident birds. Other wildlife that are frequently seen by park visitors include alligators, whitetail deer, gopher tortoises and a very special, brightly colored creature that makes a pit-stop in the park on its way from Canada to Mexico: the Monarch butterfly. 

For the explorer who wants a smoother, less challenging path to follow than those found in Conservation Park, Gayle’s Trails are a great option. These paved pathways were named after former Mayor Gayle F. Oberst, who played a major role in securing the grants that allowed for the trails’ development. As part of the proposed statewide trail system that is to run from Pensacola to Miami, Gayle’s Trails will eventually connect trails across Panama City Beach, from the Panama City Beach Conservation Park to the Hathaway Bridge and Bay County 388. The Gayle’s Trails trail heads are found in Aaron Bessant Park and Frank Brown Park. Visitors to Gayle’s Trails can choose to walk or bike the trails found within the parks’ boundaries, or they can follow them from park to park. They can also explore the many paths that lead away from the parks, such as the trail that runs from the Frank Brown Park trail head to the Panama City Beach Conservation Park (2.8 miles), or the stretch that parallels Highway 79 north to the Intracoastal Waterway.

Need a bike to hit the trails with? No worries, PCB has you covered! Bicycle rental shops, such as Barley’s Bike Rentals (which has direct access to Conservation Park), Bike the Beach (which is close to Aaron Bessant Park), and Peddle Paddle Surf Shop are great options for serious cyclists and for casual coasters, alike.

BARLEY’S BIKE RENTALS

169 Griffin Blvd.
(850) 234-BIKE (2453)
 

BIKE THE BEACH

15812 Front Beach Road
(850) 557-7787
 

PEDDLE PADDLE SURF SHOP

15010 Front Beach Road
(850) 238-6917

For more things to do in Panama City Beach, click here.