Save Old Seven

From our winter "base camp" at Knight's Key campground in Marathon, we can walk or bike the Old Seven Mile bridge span that leads 2 miles out to historic Pigeon Key. The other night on a sunset bike ride I saw people of all ages and abilities: walkers, joggers, bikers, skateboarders, and a woman in a wheelchair. Dogs are welcome too (just please, pick up after them).

It's really become an important means of recreation for many people on an island where the highway, US 1, is pretty dangerous for pedestrians and bikers. From it height you can watch for dolphins, sea turtles and sharks in the water below.

It's also historic, one of the original bridges Henry Flagler had built back in 1912 as part of the railroad from Miami to Key West, thus connecting that island nation to the mainland for the first time in history.

Long story short, it's falling apart, and the DOT, which owns it, really isn't in the business of fixing bridges that don't carry vehicles anymore. They would rather close it for safety reasons.

Enter the Friends of Old Seven, a volunteer group that is raising funds (DOT will match them), to fix the bridge. The volunteers are out there everyday, with an information table set up at the entrance to the bridge. For a donation you can get a T-shirt, tote bag or a bumper sticker for you bike like I did!

Historic Pigeon Key Free Family Fun Day Jan. 14, 2012

Historic Pigeon KeyBill & Mary Burnham, authors of the “Florida Keys Paddling Atlas,” will lead a free paddling trip from Knight’s Key, under the Seven Mile Bridges, out to historic Pigeon Key for the Marathon Flagler Centennial Celebration on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. 

Bring your kayak to Knight’s Key Campground for the 9 a.m. launch. Burnham Guides will be providing some for free: Call 305-240-0650 or email mary@burnhamguides.com to reserve one. Enjoy the Family Fun Day, from 10 a.m. -4 p.m., featuring reenactments, free kayaking, demonstrations, period games, dancing, music and food. Dress 1900s-style for the 1 p.m. costume contest! The Burnhams will give a slide show and book-signing at 11 a.m.

Florida Keys Kayaking Trips in 2011

We're now taking reservations for our 2011 Florida Keys paddling trips for mid-January through March!

Customized itineraries range from one-day paddles to Key West, Seven Mile Bridge overnights, 3-days in the backcountry to the full 100-mile 10-day adventure from Key Largo to Key West.

Join us, outdoor writers and kayak guides Bill and Mary Burnham, for multi-day kayak camping trips in the Florida Keys this winter. You'll find yourself literally paddling from the pages of the our award-winning Florida Keys Paddling Atlas.

Trips include all camping and kayaking gear, meals cooked for you, and instruction. Each couple or family will take home a signed copy of our Atlas, winner of a National Outdoor Book Award. 

We've just uploaded Customer Reviews from last year's trips.Visit BurnhamGuides.com to start paddling in paradise!  Call 305-240-3298 or e-mail with your dates.

Days 5-6 Key Largo to Key West

No, we haven't fallen off the edge of the world, and yes, we've finished the 100-mile paddle to Key West! Just got too busy (and tired!) to post each night. Sooooo, here's the 'rest of the story!'

On Day 5 we were joined by an adventurous family of four for the Seven Mile Bridge crossing and a night of primitive camping and a pasta dinner on Molasses Key.

From Knight's Key in Marathon, we paralleled Henry Flagler's 100-year-old bridge span and made our way to the tiny island the boys nicknamed "Survivor Island." They gathered firewood, adopted a couple of hermit crabs, and picked up what little trash we found washed up on shore.

Next morning we completed the crossing, accompanied by pelicans diving for schools of shimmering, jumping fish. The boys were really wishing they'd had their fishing poles!

Here's a video I took of sunrise while everyone was asleep in their tents!

Paddling under the 7-Mile Bridge

I shot this video while paddling underneath the old span of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. I'm passing beneath the 100-year-old railroad bridge built by Henry Flagler from Miami to Key West. It's held up pretty well over the past century! (Read Last Train to Paradise for a terrific history on the railroad.)

We launched from Knight's Key campground, located at the tip of Marathon, oceanside, and passed beneath the bridges. While looking for rays or sharks along a shallow sandbar, we saw some dolphins arcing in the deeper water close to the bridge.

We made a rest stop on historic Pigeon Key a tiny island museum preserving the community that housed bridge construction workers and their families in the last century. ($11 admission charged per person for a tour.)

From there we passed again beneath the bridges, being carefuly of some pretty stiff current between the arches (whatever you do, keep paddling!). We rode the swells between the spans, and one in our group saw a manatee, before we popped back out into the ocean.

We could see our destination: Molasses Key, a private island where camping permitted for paddlers on the Florida Keys Overseas Paddling Trail Since we are trail volunteers, we'd brought some trash bags for a quick beach clean-up.

This island is a tranquil place to set up camp, watching the headlights on the far-off bridge and birds feeding in the flats.

Read more about our overnight kayak tour along the Seven Mile Bridge and here's a new photo slide show:

Florida Keys Overnight Kayak Trip

Due to requests for an easy, more affordable overnight trip, we've just added a one-night, two-day traverse of the famous Seven Mile Bridge trip to our "Paddle with the Authors" itinerary.

Featured in films like the Schwarzenegger blockbuster "True Lies," this engineering marvel spans a Caribbean-blue stretch of open water between Marathon and the Lower Keys. Originally built to carry Henry Flagler's East Coast Railroad, the modern highway bridge now carries cars to and from Key West.

Explore and lunch on Pigeon Key, an island museum that housed bridge construction workers. Evening finds us watching egrets and ibis fish in the flats off our island campsite. As the sun sets, we'll see the distant lights of the evening commute across the bridge.

Never too far from civilization, with just 7 miles of paddling per day, this trip is perfect for couples wanting a romantic getaway, or as an introduction to kayak camping.

Cost per adult is just $295, all-inclusive: boat, gear, camping equipment, food and instruction.
Call 305-240-3298 or e-mail us to book your trip to paradise!

For more adventure, consider our Lower Keys expeditions of 2-5 nights, as well as the whole shebang--the 100-mile Florida Keys Paddling Trail from Key Largo to Key West. We are the only guides offering this 9-day life-altering expedition. All details are at www.BurnhamGuides.com

Watch a video Mary shot while kayaking beneath the bridges, and click the arrow below to view the Seven Mile Bridge slide show: