1
Payne Park
Park
38 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Sarasota
Sarasota, FL parks, trails & bike paths
About 4.6% of Sarasota is conserved land, roughly 712 acres. There are about 14 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Payne Park (1.7 mi), South Lido County Park (1.5 mi), and Ken Thompson Park (0.9 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Sarasota, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Sarasota outdoors
Conserved land
4.6%
712 of 15,372 acres
Trails
14 mi
0.6 mi per sq mi · 11 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
23
12 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
47.4 mi
38.1 mi lanes · 8.4 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
South Lido County Park
Park
98 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Ken Thompson Park
Park
25 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Arlington Park & Aquatic Complex
Park
23 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
5
Bayfront Park
Managed by City of Sarasota Parks & Recreation District
6 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
6
Whitaker Gateway Park
Park
8 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
7
Pioneer Park
Park
9 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
8
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Park
15 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
All 23 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 23 parks & preserves
Payne Park38 acres · 1.7 mi of trail
South Lido County Park98 acres · 1.5 mi of trail
Ken Thompson Park25 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Arlington Park & Aquatic Complex23 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Bayfront Park6 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · City of Sarasota Parks & Recreation District
Whitaker Gateway Park8 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Pioneer Park9 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens15 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Gillespie Park11 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Centennial Park10 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Sarasota
Showing 1–10 of 11 playgrounds
Circus ParkIn Payne Park
David F. Bolger PlayspaceHours: Mon–Sun 9:30 am – 6 pm
Unnamed playground in Ken Thompson Park
Unnamed playground in Ken Thompson Park
Unnamed playground in Ken Thompson Park
Unnamed playground in Bayfront Park
Unnamed playground in Pompano Trailhead
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 0.5 mi
- Tuttle Walkway Park Trail0.4 mi
- Beach Access0.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
712 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes38.1 mi
- Off-road bike paths8.4 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.9 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis51
- Baseball23
- Basketball11
- Pickleball6
- Soccer2
- Football2
- Beach volleyball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Sarasota
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Park 374 acLocal Other or Unknown 231 acLocal Recreation Area 89 acPrivate Conservation 14 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Lido County ParkLocal Other or Unknown | County | 110 | Open |
| North Lido Public BeachLocal Other or Unknown | County | 78 | Open |
| Ken Thompson Park Submerged LandsLocal Park | Town or city | 63 | Open |
| Ed Smith Sports ComplexLocal Recreation Area | County | 52 | Open |
| Bayfront Park And MarinaLocal Park | County | 42 | Open |
| Youth Athletic ComplexLocal Recreation Area | County | 37 | Open |
| Otter KeyLocal Other or Unknown | County | 30 | Open |
| Payne ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 29 | Open |
| Ken Thompson ParkLocal Park | County | 24 | Open |
| North Water Tower ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 24 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Architecture SarasotaHours: "by appointment" · Building
Owen N. BurnsPlaque
Selby MemorialIn Marie Selby Botanical Gardens · Memorial
Galilee CemeteryCemetery
Oaklands-Woodlawn CemeteryCemetery
Pioneer Whitaker CemeteryCemetery
Rosemary CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Sarasota and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarasota | 4.6% | 14.3 mi | 23 |
| North Sarasota | 3.3% | 0.9 mi | 1 |
| South Sarasota | 0.8% | 0.6 mi | 2 |
| Siesta Key | 3.1% | 2.0 mi | 3 |
| Fruitville | 5.1% | 0.2 mi | 5 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Sarasota'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 21.7-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.