The Discover Gulfport Walking Trail kicks off Saturday with a guided tour

There is a brand new collection of interconnected strolling trails in south Pinellas County.

The Discover Gulfport Walking Trail combines 4 shorter routes and is supposed to be a protected and accessible strategy to discover the town.

The linked trails go by residential neighborhoods alongside parks, historic areas and different vista factors. The complete route consists of sidewalks and crosswalks.

Brad Bruner is a member of Gulfport’s senior advisory committee.

“We realized that Gulfport — because it is such a walkable city with more than the average, number of sidewalks, crosswalks, and readily accessible areas — makes an ideal environment for a citywide street and walking system,” Bruner stated. “So what we have been able to do is create an interconnecting series of different paths that can make for a lot of variety and that people can use many times in a row and always discover something new.”

Interactive map

“We’ve also created an interactive map that is on the City of Gulfport website which you can easily Google, and if you look for City of Gulfport walking trail, you can find it on there. With a fully interactive map that even has location services so you can see where you are on the map at any given time on your phone or other device.”

Bruner says the routes had been chosen to ensure that individuals with a spread of talents are capable of take part.

Saturday’s kick-off

There’s a kick-off for the Discover Gulfport Walking Trail on Saturday morning with a one-mile guided stroll alongside the shortest loop of the 4 trails.

“We’re very excited to have the new mayor of Gulfport, Karen Love, kicking off an inaugural walk that begins at 9:00 a.m. this Saturday morning, November 15, with registration between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., Bruner said. “You can just show up. There’s no pre-registration before that required. There will be vendors and some interesting gifts and other incentives for coming and joining the walk. There will be people along the trail to assist. We’re going to be doing a one-mile loop, consisting of the shortest of the main trails.”

Coincides with the Gulfport yard sale

Bruner provides that “it’s going to be leading up into the all city garage sale that Gulfport has a couple of times a year. I think that anyone who comes over and takes part in our walking trail event and meets all of the different people in the city who are fitness enthusiasts can then go out and enjoy the day in Gulfport at the garage sale too.”

Connection to different trails

Bruner says that the Discover Gulfport Walking Trail connects to Pinellas County’s Greenways Belt at Clam Bayou. It doesn’t join on to the Pinellas Trail, which runs alongside a part of Gulfport’s northern border — but.

Bruner provides, “Our northwest extension path comes within nine blocks of the Pinellas Trail at 58th Street South. Of course, we would love to connect the Discover Gulfport Walking Trail system to the Pinellas Trail as soon as that is feasible. We’d love to make that happen.”