What it's like to ride here
The beach side. Bonita Beach Road ends at the Gulf, and Hickory Boulevard turns north along the barrier island. Between the road and the water are numbered Lee County beach accesses, each a short sandy path with a few parking spaces that fill early. On a bike you roll right up, lock up, and walk onto a quiet stretch of sand. Keep going north and Hickory becomes Estero Boulevard, crossing the Big Hickory Pass and New Pass bridges to Lovers Key State Park.
The downtown side. Old 41 Road is where Bonita Springs started. Riverside Park sits on the Imperial River with the historic Liles Hotel and a row of artist cottages, and Everglades Wonder Gardens, open since 1936, is a block north. It's a small area, best treated as a slow loop with a long breakfast in the middle.
Estero. Koreshan State Park preserves the settlement of an 1890s utopian community on the Estero River, and Coconut Point is the area's big open-air shopping center. The Village of Estero has a long-range bike and pedestrian plan, but for now many of its main roads are built for cars, so use the quieter connectors and ride to a destination rather than along the main roads.
