Seeing locations of all the wonderful places to bike in Central Florida, now and in the future, just got a lot easier. Bike/Walk Central Florida (BWCF) has collaborated with partners to produce the first region wide trail map that includes all existing and planned signature trails, wide sidewalks and shared paths, along with amenities.
The idea for the online, interactive map came when a group of planners and engineers met to discuss our region’s trails and realized no collective map of every trail in every community exists. So, BWCF decided to make the idea of producing one a reality. With the help of xGeographic and support from Hale Innovation and Catalyst Design Group, BWCF identified and mapped all of the regions’ trails, wide sidewalks, bike lanes and other amenities within Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties. The map also shows planned and proposed future trails by incorporating county, city and parks master plans.
“Now everyone from planners and engineers to elected officials and the general public can see where our trails connect and can quickly identify where gaps exist in the system,” said BWCF executive director Emily Hanna, who just so happened to be a planner at the City of Casselberry when the idea of the regional trail map was born. When she joined BWCF in 2020, she wanted to continue pursuing the regional trail map and picked up the torch to continue those efforts.
xGeographic’s PJ Smith used his software “Wave” to develop the different segments of trails and worked with each community to confirm the data’s accuracy. “This tool will help everyone build better trail networks and connect many more communities to the commercial and recreation spaces around our region,” said Smith.
BWCF needed a sponsor to help make the trail map a reality and turned to Hale Innovation and Catalyst Design Group with the idea. “We loved the idea of providing such a great resource and jumped on the opportunity to support Bike/Walk in this effort,” said Bruce Hall, principal landscape architect at Catalyst Design Group.
The regional trail map is available here and will be updated on a regular basis. If you have any questions about the map or information, please email us at [email protected]
