Discover Gulfport Walking Trail sign by Seán Kinane / WMNF News (Nov. 2025).
There is a new series of interconnected walking trails in south Pinellas County.
The Discover Gulfport Walking Trail combines four shorter routes and is meant to be a safe and accessible way to explore the city.
The connected trails pass through residential neighborhoods alongside parks, historic locations and other vista points. The entire 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 said. “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 were selected to make sure that people with a range of abilities are able to participate.
Saturday’s kick-off
There’s a kick-off for the Discover Gulfport Walking Trail on Saturday morning with a one-mile guided walk along the shortest loop of the four 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 adds 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.”
Pinellas Trail in Gulfport by Seán Kinane/WMNF News (2024).
Connection to other trails
Bruner says that the Discover Gulfport Walking Trail connects to Pinellas County’s Greenways Belt at Clam Bayou. It doesn’t connect directly to the Pinellas Trail, which runs along part of Gulfport’s northern border — yet.
Bruner adds, “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.”
Proximity to parking
According to Bruner, the paths of the Discover Gulfport Walking Trail are also structured to connect with parking options. For example, the loops go by free parking lots at the city’s library, senior center, Wood Ibis Park, Veterans Park and parking areas along the Gulfport waterfront.