A good start for the Scenic A1A Ride is at Jetty Park, which has public parking and facilities.
Scenic views of the Indian River are featured along the route.
Trails like these beckon off the A1A ride, but better to ride those on another day using a trail bike
Scenes such as these ibis in a decaying tree are common along the scenic A1A ride
If you ride from Jetty Park to the St. Lucie_Martin line the ride is about 13.5 miles or a 27-mile round trip. You can take in more miles by continuing on A1A in Martin County, which also has bike lanes
A turn off of just a few hundred feet will take you to beautiful beaches such as this
The view of the sunset at the jetty is one of the most beautiful in the region
Saturday and Sunday mornings seem to have the least motor traffic on A1A.
The ride can be taken either on the bike lane along A1A or on a sidewalk that parallels the entire route.
Wildlife such as this raccoon mother crossing with her young are often seen along A1A
An osprey flies with a mullet for breakfast on one recent ride along scenic A1A
The ride home to the jetty north along A1A gives you the opportunity to stop at some of the region's most isolated beaches.
You'll also encounter horses and horseback riders at Frederic Douglas Park
SCENIC A1a Ride
Distance: 27 miles round-trip from Jetty Park to St. Lucie/Martin County line.
Surface: Dedicated bicycle lanes on A1A are on asphalt. Sidewalk that parallels A1A is concrete.
Amenities and facilities: Many of the beach parks have restrooms. Several stores are located beyond the St. Lucie/Martin county line.
What you’ll see: Miles and miles of undisturbed beaches and panoramic views of the Indian River Lagoon, the most diverse estuary in North America. The ride also goes by the St. Lucie I and II nuclear power plants.
One of St. Lucie County’s most popular rides goes along A1A on South Hutchinson Island, which has dedicated bike lanes in both directions and a concrete sidewalk along the entire route’s east side for the more safety conscious.
The ride can be accomplished on both road and trail bikes, with the road cyclists often preferring traveling on A1A while the trail cyclists often ride on the concrete sidewalk.
From the jetty to the St. Lucie/Martin county line will give you a 27-mile round-trip ride, which you can make shorter by turning around at will or longer by continuing the ride along A1A through Jensen Beach and A1A in Martin County.
One of the best places to start the scenic A1A ride is at Fort Pierce’s South Jetty Park, which has plenty of parking for early risers and bathroom facilities. If you make your start near dawn, you will be able to take in beautiful views of the sunrise over the Atlantic while also seeing fishing boats heading out for the day from the Fort Pierce Inlet.
From the jetty, go through the roundabout and head south along A1A, the road you will stay on throughout the ride. At mile .3, you will see historic Archie’s Seabreeze on the left, a great place to stop for a beer on your way home.
At 2.9 miles on the left you will come upon Bear Point Sanctuary, site of the last recorded native American Black bear hunt on Hutchinson Island. This is the first of several side trips you can take off the main A1A trail but you will need a trail bike to negotiate the soft sand.
On these side trips you will ride along mangroves and take in tremendous views of the Indian River Lagoon while also encountering an abundance of wildlife, mostly birds such as herons, egrets, osprey and roseate spoonbills. Bear have long been extinct on the island but you may encounter the occasional raccoon or bobcat It is recommended that you take on these trail rides, all of which are on the west side of A1A, in a separate trip and with at least one other riding partner because they are remote and several go on for miles.
As you pass Bear Point you will encounter some of St. Lucie County’s most beautiful beaches on the left. Many have bathroom facilities if you need a pit stop. For safety reasons, it is probably best to visit these beaches on the ride back.
These next miles constitute some of the longest stretches of undeveloped beaches along Florida’s east coast. You will only encounter the occasional small neighborhood beach development and at mile 8.8 you will ride along the St. Lucie I and II nuclear power plants.
At mile 13.7 you will hit the county line and will know when you see the entering Martin County sign. If you want to take youir time heading back you can stop along one of the county’s many beaches. These include Normandy Beach — named for the days when South Hutchinson Island was a base for training troops that would later go on to storm the beaches of Normandy in World War II — and Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, where one of the ships from the 1715 Spanish plate fleet sank. It’s also the county’s dedicated beach for horseback riding,.
Then back to South Jetty Park and the terminus of your ride.