The 5.4-mile Bluegill Trail is the first in Palm Beach County to be opened inside the footprint of the Northeast Everglades Natural Area program(NENA). It is a collection of about 165,000 protected acres – about 260 square miles – in northern Palm Beach County and southern Martin County.
The Bluegill Trail, now recently opened, has an easy to ride 5 mile plus bike gravel trail connecting Sandhill Crane Park off of PGA Blvd. to River Bend Park off of Indiantown Road. I have not done the entire ride, but another rider mentioned that when you arrive at Riverbend Park you still have a ways to go to get to Indiantown Road but its a great ride.
I thought it would be a little different to ask my daughter Bella what her thoughts were about our recent bike ride along the Bluegill Trail and share it with our OSR readers.
In the late afternoons towards sunset the NENA jumps with wildlife and in a few short hours you could experience roosting birds, sunning snakes, feeding herons, and active gators.
OSR: So Bella how old are you now?
Bella: Six, dad you should know this.
OSR: What was your favorite part of the trail ride?
Bella: Riding my bike and seeing coyote poop
OSR: What were you thinking about when you rode your bike between the banded water snake and the peninsula ribbon snak
e?
Bella: I was thinking that they were kind of nice, but I didn’t want them to come after me, plus bikes are faster than snakes.
OSR: Did you like the part of the ride when you came to the big tiki hut?
Bella: It wasn’t just a tiki hut, it was a tiki horse hut, a rest area for horses with a hand water pump next to the swampy area with the gators.
OSR: How did you feel after riding 5 miles on your 14″ Barbie Bike with pink basket especially when it started getting dark
Bella: Alligators come out at night, they are nocturnal, so are snakes, but it was fun
OSR: You saw Alligators, where?
Bella: Yeah there were lots swimming in the canal
OSR: Did you see any cool birds
Bella: Yea, herons and the vultures
