Illustration of one small motorcycle crossing a long bridge over pale turquoise shallows in the Florida Keys
Touring

Overseas Highway to Key West by Motorcycle: A Winter Ride

A rider's January ride on the Overseas Highway to Key West by motorcycle, with sourced facts on its 42 bridges and the Seven Mile Bridge.

By Walt Dunmore

This story is not medical advice. The facts about the road (length, bridges, mile markers, seasons, weather) come from the official sources linked in the post.

The road to Key West is the Overseas Highway, the last stretch of U.S. 1: about 113 miles, 42 bridges, and a fine ride by motorcycle. I rode it in January, when I was seventy, on my Honda Gold Wing. I call it the Wing.

Visit Florida Keys, the county tourism board, says a driver can leave Miami and cover the whole road in under four hours. I took the better part of a day. I stopped at nearly every bridge, because a road with water on both sides is hard to ride past.

My name is Walt Dunmore. I spent 41 years surveying county roads in Virginia, so I notice grades, curves and ditches. On this road the ditch is the sea, and I laughed about that inside my helmet more than once.

Key Takeaways

  • The Overseas Highway is the southernmost stretch of U.S. 1 and ends at Mile Marker 0 in Key West. Visit Florida Keys counts about 113 miles and 42 bridges, while the federal America's Byways listing gives 106.5 miles.
  • The Seven Mile Bridge is 6.79 miles long, and the old railroad bridge runs beside it.
  • The tourism board says winter almost never brings rain to the Keys, but check the forecast for your day. The National Hurricane Center puts hurricane season at June 1 to November 30.
  • Traffic can build at peak times. This post cannot tell you what is open today or where to buy fuel, so check FL511 on the day you ride and a current map for fuel.
  • What I took from it: let the road be slow, and give yourself time at the far end.

Mile Marker 127: starting the Overseas Highway to Key West by motorcycle

The Overseas Highway starts counting at Mile Marker 127 near Florida City and counts down to zero in Key West. Visit Florida Keys says the green mile markers run from 127 to 0. A surveyor loves a road that tells you where you are. This one does it every mile.

It had been a hard year at our house, and I won't list it. In November Marlene looked at me across the breakfast table and said I should go somewhere warm. She does not ride. She said she would fly down and meet me at the far end.

So I took three easy days to get to Florida City, and I left there at first light. The tourism board lists Key West's January averages at 75 degrees for the high and 65 for the low. I wore a jacket liner and packed it away by mid-morning.

I wore my helmet, as always. Florida lets some riders skip one, and I have never once wanted to test that.

Key Largo to Marathon: where the road turns into water

Past Key Largo the Overseas Highway stops running beside the sea and starts running across it. The tourism board counts 42 bridges linking the keys, with the Atlantic on one side and Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. I watched the mile markers fall and the water widen.

Out of habit I wondered how it was built. The tourism board says the highway's foundation, finished in 1938, used some of the old railway spans along with the coral bedrock of the keys and specially built columns. That is a surveyor's kind of puzzle.

I stopped at a diner counter in Islamorada, ate eggs, and listened to two men settle an argument about fish. My hands had a low hum from the grips by then, so I shook them out, drank water and walked a slow lap around the Wing. Stops are part of a long day.

The Seven Mile Bridge: 6.79 miles of open water

The Seven Mile Bridge at Marathon is 6.79 miles long, not seven, and it still felt endless. The tourism board counts it among the world's longest segmental bridges. It was part of a 1982 job that replaced 37 of the original bridges with wider spans.

A crosswind leaned on the Wing the whole way. I loosened my grip, kept my eyes up and kept to the limit. Every joint in the deck ticked under the tires like a slow clock. There was nowhere to hide out there, and no reason to hurry.

The old bridge ran beside me on the right. Henry Flagler's railroad built it, and between 1936 and 1938 the state converted the railroad's bridges to carry cars, says the Florida Department of State's historical marker. The marker adds that the old rails were reused as guardrails and can still be seen. The old bridge reopened in 2022 as a 2.2-mile walking and cycling park. I told myself I'd stop for it on the way home.

Illustration of a long concrete bridge over green water with one tiny motorcycle and an older steel bridge alongside

Bridge, key, bridge: the Lower Keys

Past Marathon the pattern is bridge, key, bridge. The Lower Keys run from Mile Marker 40 down to 4, Visit Florida Keys says. I tried to count the bridges and quit around the ninth. The tourism board says there are 42, and I'll take its word.

The tourism pages I read before I left covered bridges and mile markers but said nothing on fuel, one way or the other. On any road I don't know, I check a current map for stations and fill up at half a tank. I did both here.

The board's weather page lists an average January sunset of 5:53 pm. I plan around a number like that and don't ride into dusk on a strange road if I can help it. I rolled into Key West a little after three, with light to spare and my shoulders up around my ears. I sat on a curb and let them come down.

Mile Marker 0: where U.S. 1 runs out of numbers

The Overseas Highway ends at Mile Marker 0, at the corner of Fleming and Whitehead streets in Key West, Visit Florida Keys says. I walked to the sign the next morning and stood there longer than a sign deserves. The board's walking guide calls it the end, or the beginning, of U.S. 1, depending on your view.

When a survey job closed, I always felt pleased and a little let down. I felt both at that sign.

A walk south down Whitehead Street ends at the Southernmost Point. The same guide says visitors line up there for photos, and that Havana, 90 miles away, is closer than Miami. I went early and had the buoy nearly to myself. At sunset I went back to the Wing, parked at the end of a quiet street, and watched the light turn the harbor orange.

Illustration of a quiet palm-lined island street at sunset with one touring motorcycle parked beside wooden houses

Three days of going nowhere, then the road home

Marlene flew into Key West International Airport on my third afternoon. We spent three days not going anywhere. We walked Whitehead Street at the speed of two people with nowhere to be. The board calls it a one-mile hike along a shaded, leafy street, and it was. We sat on a porch. We argued about nothing. It was the best part of that year.

On the morning after the third day, Marlene flew home and I rode north alone. I checked FL511, Florida's official real-time traffic site, before I started, as I would on any long day.

The highway going north is a different road from the one going south. The ocean was on my right now and the old bridge on my left, and the markers climbed instead of falling. This time I stopped and walked out onto the old railroad bridge in my boots. The board says the water there runs from pale turquoise to deep navy, and a man at the rail pointed down at a ray. That was enough to make the stop worth it.

It had been a hard year. The road did not fix that, and I don't think it was meant to. It gave me nearly a week where the biggest decision was which bridge to stop at. If you go, go slow and look up.

Ride facts: Overseas Highway to Key West

Fact Detail Source
The road The Overseas Highway is the southernmost leg of U.S. 1, nicknamed the Highway That Goes to Sea. It was named an All-American Road in 2009. Visit Florida Keys newsroom, America's Byways
Length and bridges Visit Florida Keys counts about 113 miles and 42 bridges. The federal America's Byways listing gives the byway's length as 106.5 miles, Key Largo to Key West. The two lengths differ, and neither page says why. Visit Florida Keys, America's Byways
Mile markers Green markers run from 127 near Florida City to 0 in Key West. The tourism board's newsroom puts marker 113 at the Miami-Dade and Monroe county line. Getting here, newsroom
Seven Mile Bridge 6.79 miles, at Marathon. The old railroad bridge beside it is at marker 47 on the bay side and is now a walking and cycling park. Newsroom, Marathon overview
The far end Mile Marker 0 is at Fleming and Whitehead streets. The Southernmost Point is at Whitehead and South streets. Whitehead Street guide
Season and weather The tourism board says winter months almost never bring rain; check the forecast for your day. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30. Weather page, National Hurricane Center
Traffic and fuel Traffic can build at peak travel times. The official pages read for this post do not cover fuel stops, so plan fuel from a current map. Getting here
Helmet rule Only riders 21 or older who carry insurance with at least 10,000 dollars in medical benefits may use Florida's helmet exemption. Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
Road status FL511 is Florida's official source for real-time traffic information, including incidents and construction. FL511
  • Check FL511 on the morning you ride. This post cannot tell you what is open today.
  • Follow the posted speed limits, and plan fuel from a current map. The official pages read for this post cover neither limits nor fuel stops.
  • Pack layers. Key West's January averages run from a 65°F low to a 75°F high, says the tourism board.
  • Allow extra time. The "under four hours" figure is a driving time from Miami, not a ride with stops. For general long-day notes, see the Hexrider long-distance riding blog.

Questions riders ask about the Overseas Highway to Key West

What's the name of the highway that goes to Key West?

It is the Overseas Highway, the southernmost leg of U.S. 1. Visit Florida Keys also calls it the Highway That Goes to Sea, and says it crosses 42 bridges.

How long does it take to ride the Overseas Highway to Key West?

Visit Florida Keys says drivers can leave Miami and cover the full length in under four hours. The federal America's Byways listing gives four hours as the time to allow. The tourism board also says traffic can build at peak travel times. My ride took the better part of a day because I stopped often.

What are the best months to ride the Florida Keys?

The sources do not name one best month. Visit Florida Keys says it almost never rains in the winter months, and that the first thundershowers arrive by late May. The National Hurricane Center says the Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, with most activity from mid-August to mid-October.

From the Hexrider team

Hexrider sells the Hexcushion, so read this section with that in mind. This story involves no product; Hexrider makes the Hexcushion seat pad for riders who put in long days. You can read the product page, the rider reviews and the refund policy.

About this blog

You can reach the Hexrider team through the contact page.

Sources

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