1
Bowman's Beach
Park
410 acres4.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Sanibel
Sanibel, FL parks, trails & bike paths
About 32% of Sanibel is conserved land, roughly 6,669 acres. There are about 33 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Bowman's Beach (4.9 mi), J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge (2.6 mi), and Erick Lindblad Preserve (2.3 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Sanibel, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Sanibel outdoors
Conserved land
32%
6,669 of 21,195 acres
Trails
33 mi
1 mi per sq mi · 11 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
8
1,039 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
31.2 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 31.1 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Nature preserve
6,914 acres2.6 mi of trail
FootpathShell Mound TrailWulfert Keys Trail
Dog rules not recorded
3
Erick Lindblad Preserve
Managed by Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
241 acres2.3 mi of trail
East River TrailUpper Ridge TrailSabal Palm TrailWest River Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Lighthouse Beach Park
Managed by City of Sanibel, Florida
24 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
5
Gulfside City Park
Park
42 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Scenic views in Sanibel
Mangrove OverlookIn J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Observation DeckIn J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Observation DeckIn J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Observation TowerIn J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Unnamed scenic view
Unnamed scenic view in J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 1.1 miUnpaved 20.7 mi
Showing 1–10 of 11 trails
- Footpath1.7 mi
- Pond Apple Trail0.9 mi
- East River Trail0.8 mi
- Upper Ridge Trail0.4 mi
- Sabal Palm Trail0.4 mi
- Shell Mound Trail0.3 mi
- The Shipley Trail0.3 mi
- Wulfert Keys Trail0.2 mi
- West River Trail0.2 mi
- Beach Access0.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
6,669 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths31.1 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis142
- Pickleball83
- Basketball3
- Beach volleyball2
- Baseball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Sanibel
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
National Wildlife Refuge 10,241 acPrivate Conservation 1,162 acLocal Other or Unknown 246 acLocal Park 86 acLocal Recreation Area 33 ac
Showing 1–10 of 12 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 10,241 | Restricted |
| Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Conservation LandsPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,162 | Closed |
| Bowman's Beach Regional ParkLocal Other or Unknown | Town or city | 178 | Open |
| Silver KeyLocal Other or Unknown | Town or city | 68 | Open |
| Great Calusa BluewayLocal Recreation Area | County | 33 | Open |
| Lighthouse Beach ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 29 | Open |
| Gulfside Beach ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Pond Apple ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Baileys Beach ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Sanibel Island Public Boat RampLocal Park | County | 6 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Sanibel LighthouseHistoric site
Sanibel CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Sanibel and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanibel | 31.5% | 32.6 mi | 8 |
| Captiva | 6.5% | 0.7 mi | 1 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Sanibel's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 26.2-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.