Football players don’t have to build their own stadiums. Swimmers don’t dig their own pools. Hockey players don’t bring their own ice. But a group of Tampa Bay mountain bikers proudly—literally—blazes their own trails.
SWAMP (the Southwest Association of Mountain Bike Pedalers) wholly maintains approximately 130 miles of trails in parks around the Tampa Bay area. For many local riders who enjoy them without getting their hands dirty, there’s still one drawback: The Bay’s nearest mountain bike trails are all a one-to-two-hour drive away from Tampa and St. Petersburg’s downtowns.
But that’s about to change, as SWAMP volunteers wrap up phase one of Pinellas County’s first mountain bike system at Lake Seminole Park. After county approval, the project began with volunteers and their yard tools in spring 2024…