The Eastcoast Greenway

The Eastcoast Greenway

Linking cities from Maine to Florida

Aiming to connect cities and towns of the East Coast with a continuous, traffic-free path, the East Coast Greenway spans 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida. With nearly one-fifth of the ECG on traffic-free paths, and the rest mapped out on interim roads, people and communities all along the east coast are already enjoying the Greenway's benefits.

The ECG's southern gateway marker in Key West, FL is set in St. Croix granite from the Calais, ME area.

Frequently likened to an urban Appalachian Trail, the East Coast Greenway is the nation's first long-distance urban trail system; a city-to-city transportation corridor for cyclists, hikers, and other non-motorized users. By connecting existing and planned trails, a continuous, safe, green route 3,000 miles long is being formed linking Calais, Maine at the Canadian border with Key West, Florida. It incorporates waterfront esplanades, park paths, abandoned railroad corridors, canal towpaths, and highway corridors, and in many areas it temporarily follows streets and roads to link these completed trail sections together.

Already, 21 percent of this route is along off-road trail and the aim is for it to be entirely off-road and traffic-free. The East Coast Greenway Alliance will continue to work toward that end until it is 100 percent off-road. Obviously, that will take many years, much as the Appalachian Trail has taken decades to be moved off-road. Many people are surprised to learn that in the beginning, the Appalachian Trail was largely on roads too.

The planned route will be an urban alternative to the Appalachian Trail, located in the flat coastal plain instead of up on the ridgeline of the Appalachains, and going through the heart of the 25 major cities along the eastern seaboard. It will offer a varied landscape, passing at times in the 

A bicycle tourist crosses a scenic trail bridge on the Farmington Canal Greenway in Simsbury, Connecticut. Such tourists are already bringing extra income to communities located near the Greenway's corridor.

shadows of skyscrapers, at times winding through suburban neighborhoods, but also will often take the user into the surprisingly rural areas that still exist along the east coast. It will enable residents to travel short distances from their homes to local points of interest, and tourists to travel for a few days or even weeks to explore the rich history and culture within the East Coast region.

The East Coast Greenway will serve as an important connector, joining local trail to local trail. Today the East Coast Greenway is roughly 20 percent complete, with trail segments designated in all but three of the states along the trail’s corridor.

This is the current list of trails designated as East Coast Greenway in Florida.

River to Sea Trail, Flagler County; 18.6 mi
Mayport Ferry, Ft. George to Mayport; 0.4 mi
Timucuan Trail; 2.3 mi
Brevard County A1A Sidepath; 17.4 mi
Indian River County A1A Sidepath; 22.75 mi
West Palm Beach Trail, West Palm Beach; 5.7 mi off-road/2.1 mi on-road
Overseas Heritage Trail, Key Largo to Key West; 58.8 mi off-road/47.5 mi on-road
Key West Bicycle Path, Key West; 8.3 mi