Pull up to the Graham Swamp trailhead on Old Kings Road this month expecting a locked gate, and you'll be surprised. The gate's open. You can walk or ride close to a mile and a quarter before you hit anything blocked at all.
That gap between what people assume and what's actually there is worth closing, because fall is the first real stretch since spring when a Palm Coast evening is comfortable enough to spend outside, and a lot of residents are steering clear of one of the city's most popular trails over a rumor that's only half true. The trail isn't closed. One section of boardwalk is closed, and the closure was extended indefinitely after a city safety announcement in February. Everything else, including three other named trails and a county trail network the county puts at 125 miles, is open right now.
The Boardwalk Closure and Its Timeline
The current closure traces back to August 2025, when Palm Coast shut the stretch of Graham Swamp Trail between Colbert Lane and Oak Trails Boulevard for what the city estimated would be about 90 days of repair work. That timeline came and went without a reopening.
By February 26, 2026, the city was explaining a second round of problems. A survey had turned up several newly compromised areas along the boardwalk, and officials decided the fix needed to go beyond patchwork. City Architect Eric Gebo put it plainly in the announcement: "Unfortunately, due to the prolonged exposure to the elements, we have decided that, for the safety of visitors to Graham Swamp, it is imperative that we fix the issues we are seeing along the entire trail system at Graham Swamp."
What followed was not a quick turnaround. City park project updates confirmed that continued inspection revealed even more structural wear in the boardwalk and bridges, and the closure was extended indefinitely with no reopening date attached. The most recent trail report available, posted to AllTrails in July, matches that: the boardwalk toward Colbert Lane is still closed, but the rest of the trail out of the Old Kings Road trailhead remains open for about 1.25 miles before hikers reach the closed bridge and have to turn back.
So the honest version is narrower than the rumor and more useful. One boardwalk segment near Colbert Lane is off limits. The trailhead, the first mile-plus, and every other named trail in the system are not.
What You Can Actually Ride Right Now
| Trail | Distance | Surface | Trailhead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh Trail | About 7 miles | Paved | Colbert Lane |
| Linear Park's Saw Palmetto Trail | 0.42 mile | Unpaved shell/dirt | Palm Coast Parkway median |
| Waterfront Park to Hammock Dunes Bridge | 2 miles | Paved | Waterfront Park |
| Graham Swamp (open segment) | About 1.25 miles one way | Boardwalk and shell | Old Kings Road |
Linear Park is the one most people drive past without noticing, because it sits in the grassy median between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Palm Coast Parkway. It's easy to underestimate. Four short named trails run through it: Live Oak, Magnolia, and Sabal Palm, each just under a quarter mile, plus the Saw Palmetto Trail at 0.42 mile, which is unpaved and considered a good starting point for beginner mountain bikers. The park also has a playground, restrooms, and picnic pavilions, so it works as a destination on its own or as the start of something longer.
From Linear Park, the St. Joe Walkway extends the ride about another mile before connecting to the Intracoastal Waterway Trail, a two-mile stretch running from Waterfront Park north to the Hammock Dunes Bridge. This one is designated as part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail, with more than 40 migratory and wading bird species known to use the area, and it's also where dolphins and, later in the season, manatees are most likely to show up gliding along the Intracoastal.
The Lehigh Trail is the longest single stretch open right now, a paved path following an old railroad corridor for close to seven miles from its trailhead at Colbert Lane. It's shaded most of the way and popular with walkers, cyclists, and the occasional alligator sighting along the water.
Four Places to Fix a Flat at Midnight
One detail that doesn't show up on most trail maps: Palm Coast maintains four bicycle maintenance stations across the system, and they're available around the clock.
- Waterfront Park
- Linear Park
- The Lehigh Trail trailhead on Belle Terre Parkway
- The Graham Swamp trailhead on Old Kings Road
Each station has a padded post to hang a bike from so riders can rotate pedals, adjust gears, or change a tire without hauling tools from home. It's a small piece of infrastructure, but for anyone who rides regularly, knowing exactly where the nearest station sits changes how far you're willing to go.
Why the Gap Between Graham Swamp and Lehigh Has Lasted 15 Years
The Graham Swamp closure sits inside a bigger story that's been unfolding for over a decade. Graham Swamp Trail and Lehigh Trail are two of the most-used paths in the city, but they don't actually connect to each other. Closing that gap has been on Palm Coast's wish list for 15 years, according to reporting from FlaglerLive, and as of that report, the city had finally secured federal aid to design a 3.5-mile link running from the Old Kings Road trailhead south behind the Toscana and Hidden Lakes subdivisions to meet the Lehigh Trail. Design work was targeted for completion by January 2026, with the city covering a 10 percent local match through park impact fees while pursuing state Sun Trail grant money to fund actual construction.
Construction dollars had not been secured as of that reporting. It's a project worth watching rather than counting on this season, but it explains something residents have felt for years without quite naming it: the sense that Palm Coast's trails are almost one continuous system, interrupted by a handful of stubborn gaps that take a long time to close.
The Best Weeks Are Right Now
None of this is a reason to wait. The open 1.25-mile stretch of Graham Swamp is still shaded, still quiet, and still worth an early morning walk. Lehigh Trail, the Intracoastal Waterway Trail, and Linear Park's four short loops together offer more than 10 miles of currently unobstructed paths without requiring a trip onto the closed boardwalk.
Fall also puts the Intracoastal Waterway Trail on a different kind of schedule. Florida's manatee protection season officially begins November 15 and runs through the end of March, when state wildlife protections kick in as manatees move toward warmer water. As temperatures drop into the 60s over the next couple of months, that stretch of trail between Waterfront Park and the Hammock Dunes Bridge becomes one of the better places in the city to watch for them without a boat.
The boardwalk will get fixed eventually, and the connector to Lehigh Trail may eventually close the gap that's outlasted three different city administrations. Until then, the rest of the map is open, well marked, and mostly empty on a Tuesday evening. That's worth knowing before the cooler weather disappears again.
If you're weighing a move to Palm Coast, or already live here and are curious what a particular street, canal lot, or neighborhood is really like day to day, Ramona Damian has spent years learning this city trail by trail and block by block. Let's Connect.
