Route #52 Bradenton – Tampa

This cycling route runs through Manatee and Hillsborough counties, linking the cities of Bradenton and Tampa along one of the most important urban and port corridors on Florida’s west coast. The itinerary passes through numerous historic communities and unincorporated settlements such as Palmetto, Rubonia, Ruskin, Apollo Beach, Adamsville, and Gibsonton, while skirting—almost imperceptibly—the vast expanse of Tampa Bay and the state’s largest seaport. Much of the route follows the historic Tamiami Trail (US 41), thereby completing this fundamental axis that connects Miami with Tampa over more than 260 miles.

The landscape alternates between densely populated metropolitan areas and rural stretches, coastal wetlands, and protected ecosystems such as Terra Ceia Preserve State Park, the Tampa Bay Estuarine Ecosystem, and Cockroach Bay Preserve State Park. Along the way, multiple historical layers overlap: former Indigenous territories, sixteenth-century Spanish explorations, settlements that emerged with the arrival of the railroad, and failed urban projects from the real estate boom of the 1920s. Ghost towns and communities shaped by social experiments, agricultural colonies, and distinctive episodes linked to the circus, port industry, and twentieth-century industrial expansion also appear.

The route culminates in downtown Tampa, a city deeply shaped by its Indigenous, military, and immigrant past. From the founding of Fort Brooke to the rise of the cigar industry in Ybor City, through phosphate mining, the railroad, and port growth, Tampa consolidated itself as one of the state’s major economic and cultural centers. The route thus offers a continuous view of the transformation of Florida’s west coast, from natural landscapes and forgotten communities to the heart of a modern major metropolis.

The complete route, together with its detailed historical context, is part of Discovering Florida – Volume 3.