Jupiter Island Bike Route: Florida’s Finest Island

This is my favorite place to ride in all of South Florida. It is relatively close to home, the roads are smooth and car traffic is minimal. Tiger Woods likes the area so much, he spent tens of millions of dollars buying a house on the Island.

Jupiter Island Ride Summary

  • Full Distance: 42.6 miles
  • Summary: Few cars, good amounts of shade, some beach views, mostly flat but with up to three bridges, water fountains and public bathrooms every six to ten miles.
  • Ideal for: all-around nice route, bring the entire family
  • Down side: only one convenience store along the entire route

Possible Start Locations

  • Marcinski Road (42.6 miles)
  • Coral Cove Park (31 miles)
  • Bridge Road

When to Ride Jupiter Island

There are always cyclists along this route, especially the area between Marcinski Road and Bridge Road. This is a prime area for biking. In the morning and evening, you’ll find the most people out there because the path is substantially shaded at those times. Just about any nice morning, however, you’ll be able to find a group to fit your pace.

When and How Does Matt Ride Jupiter Island?

My Saturday ride starts in the Marcinski Road parking lot at 7:30 am Saturday morning. This loop is 42.6 miles if you do the full loop and include the 30-minute breakfast stop.

Jupiter Island Route Overview

The 25-50 riders you will find there are primarily people who used to make up a Palm Beach cycling club that has since disbanded. While I having been riding with them for just a few months, there are people there who have been riding together for more than 15 years. The group is very welcome to newcomers. Please introduce yourself if you intend to ride with the group.

Marcinski Road to Coral Cove Park is six miles and takes about 20 minutes. Those six miles are your warm up for the main event. The speed for this section is about 15-18 miles an hour.

At Coral Cove, we stop for five to ten minutes to allow for a bathroom break and to allow those who want a shorter ride length to join us. The ride stars north at 8:00 sharp.

Depending on how many people show up, there is an A+, A and B group. The A+ group is as fast as the leader can crank, usually above 24 miles an hour with the top speed reaching 30 mph during sprints. The A group aims for 22/23 miles an hour. The B group — where I am most comfortable — aims for 18 miles an hour.

The age range for the riders is amazing. The youngest person I have seen in our group is a teenager and the oldest is well past 70. Those two, by the way, both left me (early-30s) in the dust when I was dropped from the A+ group one morning.

From Coral Cove, the group rides to the very top of Jupiter Island (10 miles) then back to Bridge Road (two miles), across to the mainland (one mile) then north up Southeast Gomez Avenue. Gomez hits 7th street (2.5 miles) then goes west for a block then goes north again until it dead ends (two miles). Turn around and head south to Bridge Road. From Bridge Road, go a quarter mile west (past a Circle-K) to a shopping plaza. In that plaza, there are two bakeries and a grocery store.

The group stops for 20 to 30 minutes for breakfast.

After breakfast, we start with a slow (15 mph) two-mile roll through a small Jupiter neighborhood to let out food digest. Then, it is back on Bridge Road across the bridge and onto the Island.

The final 12 miles back to Marcinski Road are fairly fast no matter with which group you started. You’ll probably be able to keep up with your selected group but the idea is to leave nothing in your tank when the ride is over.

14 Replies to “Jupiter Island Bike Route: Florida’s Finest Island”

  1. Stan, coming from New England, you’re going to like just about anything South Florida has to offer this time of year.

    Jupiter Island is seven to ten miles north of West Palm Beach and well worth the drive. The Island of Palm Beach is also worth a loop or two.

    What sort of mileage are you looking for? How fast and how far do you generally like to ride? If you’re here for a few weeks, a trip 45 minutes west to Lake Okeechobee is probably worth your time.

    There are plenty of great bike rides and routes in Palm Beach County. Let us know what you want and I’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.

    Cheers,
    Matt

  2. Hey Matt,

    I will be in town on March 11th and would love to do this ride on sat. the 13th if you’re still doing it. Sounds like a great ride.

  3. Jeff, I plan on riding March 13. Even if I wasn’t, the group is welcoming to new and out of town riders. Please introduce yourself.

    Safe riders with good attitudes are always welcomed warmly. Dangerous riders or folks looking for prize money need not apply.

    Cheers,
    Matt

  4. Matt,

    Sorry I missed you on Saturday. I did ride, but I guess I was in the wrong parking lot. I was in the Publix lot across the street. Great ride though. Hopeully catch up with you’re group next time I’m in town.
    Jeff

  5. Marilia,

    There are bike lanes along most of the ride or you’re going to be on lightly-traveled roads. I’m assuming that the kids are NOT going to be riding independently, right? I wouldn’t recommend that.

    There are some hazards: the bike lane on Juno Beach has car parking next to it. People intent on getting to or leaving the beach are prone to open their doors without looking. They are also known to make u-turns without warning.

    Crossing the U.S. 1 bridge over the Jupiter Inlet requires you to be comfortable taking the lane and dealing with traffic. The bridge onto Jupiter Island says to walk bikes. I don’t walk mine unless it’s been raining. The steel grate on that bridge is dicey when wet.

    It’s a good ride, but not everyone who isn’t used to riding in traffic will enjoy all of it.

  6. Hello Matt
    Training for an Ironman in late August and live in Orlando, but this friday I am heading down to West Palm Beach for vacation, but as training goes I have a 100 mile bike ride followed by a run. I am not familiar with the area on a bike, but I was reading the posts and was wondering if the ride still goes on How long is it from Singer island to the start and is it safe riding to get to the start, or if know of any safe rides that I can get in my 100?
    Thanks
    JB

  7. John, it is about eight miles from the south end of Singer Island to Marcinski Road where the Saturday ride begins.

    Except for a couple miles on US1, between Singer Island and Juno Beach, the road is nice and the view ain’t bad. Certainly it is safe, especially on the weekend when there aren’t that many cars on the road.

    You’ll exit the north end of Singer Island onto US1 and head north until you get to the point where A1A forks off to the right. Follow A1A. From the fork to Marcinski Road is about three miles. It’ll be on your left across from the beach.

    If you wanted to get in a hundred miles, you could start on Singer Island, follow the Jupiter Island route then continue cruising north up to Hutchinson Island, to the Fort Pierce Inlet and back. That would be just about 100 miles on the nose, maybe a bit longer.

    That entire route is crawling with cyclists on Saturday morning starting around 6:30 am so the chances of finding company is good even if you wanted to start before the 7:30 group start. With 100 miles to go, you may want to start earlier than us locals. It’s gonna be a hot weekend.

    There are plenty of convenience stores at the north end of the route and a number of parks along the way if you’d rather just find a water fountain.

    Cheers,
    Matt

  8. I live on Jupiter island and am glad that people enjoy riding the island; however why do cyclists have to ride in such large groups? As I was leaving my residence just yesterday, there was a group so large and all over the lane that I could not even pass; they were the distance of at least 1000 feet long. I know that may seem insignificant that I couldn’t pass, but literally every day I have to zig zag around cyclists and it gets old. Could the groups at least space themselves out and stay single file so that cars can pass? After all it is your saying to “share the road”. Can you guys also share.

  9. I’ll be in town at the end of this week and would like to do this ride on my own (not around on Sat. for group ride). Is there a more detailed, turn-by-turn cue sheet available?

    Thanks, J

  10. There’s not much to the ride. You start out on A1A in Juno Beach, when it curves around to meet US 1, you head north on it.

    Once you come off the Jupiter Inlet Bridge, you’ll hit a light. Turn right, which puts you on Jupiter Island. There’s only one road north and south: S. Beach Rd., also known as County Rd. 707. There is one split in the road. Hang to the right if you want to ride along the beach.

    When you get to the top of the island at Bridge Rd., you can either turn around at the park there or go west into Hobe Sound.

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