Florida Tourist Attractions - Clearwater Beach, Tampa Bay Area

Despite being overdeveloped and lined with beach- Pinellas Trail
front cookie-cutter hotels, Clearwater BeachThis 47-mile paved bicycle trail, built on the
draws visitors because of incredible white-sandabandoned CSX railway bed, runs from St
beaches, a large fishing fleet , and it's proximity toPetersburg to Tarpon Springs. To date, it's the
Tampa and St Petersburg. It's also a prime arealongest urban trail in the country. It's also very
for kayaking, shelling, bicycling and sunning yourselfsmooth - smooth enough for inline skates or roller
on the beach - which just about sums up the localskates as well as bicycles. There are lots of stops
'tourist attractions.' Unless you count beachalong the way, with cafes, pubs, bike shops,
volleyball on Clearwater Beach, which is prettyskate shops and fast-food places. As it's on the
darn good, too.route of the old railway, the corridor cuts through
This northernmost barrier island is about 22 mileswidely carnied terrain: sometimes you're in the
north of St Pete Beach and 2 miles west ofmiddle of downtown, sometimes along
downtown Clearwater (a separate city on thewaterways, sometimes among orange groves
mainland) over the Memorial Causeway (Hwy 60).and sometimes you're riding practically through
From here the road south is S Gulfview Blvd andpeople's backyards.
north is Mandalay Ave, Clearwater's main drag.From the Clearwater Beach International Youth
Pier 60 is right at the roundabout where theseHotel, which rents bikes, head over the
three roads meet. From St Petersburg, it's aboutcauseway, and ride north on fort Harrison Ave
a 1/2 an hour drive or a 1 1/2 hour bus ride.and east on Jones St for about three blocks. You'll
Although crowded, the scale of the island ispick up the southern end of the Clearwater to
humane (only 3.5 miles long) and it's easy to getTarpon Springs section of the path. It's 13.2 miles
around.from Jones St to Tarpon Ave.