Starkey Gap Trail Completes Link Between Pinellas, Pasco Trails

PASCO COUNTY, FL — State and county officials along with trail enthusiasts were on hand Friday to celebrate a historic event — the opening of the Starkey Gap Trail, the final link in Pasco County for the Florida Coast-to-Coast Trail.

The long-anticipated 2.4-mile trail link connects the Suncoast Trail and Starkey Boulevard Trail in Pasco County to the Pinellas Trail, which runs the length of Pinellas County.

Among those on hand for the ribbon-cutting were officials from Pasco County, the Florida Department of Transportation and Duke Energy.

With the opening of the Starkey Gap Trail, Pinellas and Pasco counties now has more than 100 miles of trails for hikers, runners and bicyclists.

The Florida Department of Transportation funded and managed the construction project. Pasco County will manage the trail.

The Starkey Gap Trail fills a major gap in an ambitious statewide plan to create the Florida Coast-to-Coast Trail, a continuous paved multi-use trail stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first state trail of its kind in the United States.

The coast-to-coast trail, which is 80 percent complete, will span 250 miles, eventually linking St. Petersburg on the Gulf Coast to Titusville on the Atlantic Ocean.

The trail corridor includes most of the 51-mile East Central Regional Rail Trail, the longest single rail-trail corridor ever acquired by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Office of Greenways and Trails.

Video courtesy Pasco County Government

Courtesy of the Office of Greenways and Trails

When completed, the Florida Coast-to-Coast Trail will be the first of its kind to span a state.