The ride begins in Buckingham, a rural community of farms and open land that is home to the county’s oldest school and a former World War II air training base. From here, the landscape shifts between pine woods, wetlands, and ranchland until reaching the Orange River, a tributary of the Caloosahatchee.
The route continues through Tice, a former citrus and railroad settlement, and then into East Dunbar, a historic African American neighborhood named after poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. As the ride approaches Fort Myers, the scenery becomes increasingly urban, with wide boulevards, commercial zones, and older residential districts shaped by rail and industry.
From the city center, the route follows McGregor Boulevard, lined with palms, historic homes, and winter estates once owned by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone. Farther south lies Iona, a quiet residential community surrounded by canals and lagoons, before the ride crosses areas of strong social contrast such as Harlem Heights and San Carlos Park.
The final stretch leads into Three Oaks, where new subdivisions stand beside open cattle land and unfinished developments, clear evidence of Florida’s real-estate boom and collapse. The route then skirts the edge of the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, a vast wetland ecosystem home to alligators, deer, birds, and native plant life.
The loop ends back in Buckingham, completing a route that reflects the transformation of Lee County from rural frontier to modern metropolitan landscape, while still preserving its natural heritage.
This route is part of Descubriendo la Florida – Volume 3.
