This video is the long video of my 23.6 ride of Loop Road Scenic Drive in the Big Cypress National Preserve just off US Highway 41 with the eastern part of the road roughly 43 miles west of Miami, Florida.
For more details on Loop Road Scenic Drive, Take a look at my post “Florida Loop 2026 – Loop Road Scenic Drive (Short Version)“.
This video is the short video of my 23.6 ride of Loop Road Scenic Drive in the Big Cypress National Preserve just off US Highway 41 with the eastern part of the road roughly 43 miles west of Miami, Florida.
The Loop Road Scenic Drive offers a raw, unfiltered journey into the heart of the Big Cypress National Preserve, stretching across a 24-mile transition from rugged gravel to paved road.
As you navigate this detour off the Tamiami Trail, the landscape transforms into a prehistoric corridor of towering bald cypress trees draped in ghostly Spanish moss and vibrant air plants. The slow pace is mandatory, not just for the sake of your vehicle, but to spot the abundant wildlife that claims the roadside; it is common to see American Alligators basking on the banks, wood storks wading through the dark “blackwater” strands, and even the occasional elusive otter.
It is an immersive experience where the silence of the swamp is broken only by the chorus of cicadas and the splash of a rising gar, providing a stark, beautiful contrast to the manicured environments of nearby South Florida.
This road, scenery and observing the alligators was the highlight of this trip for me personally.
This is part 2 of 2 of my Florida Loop 2026 Motorcycle Tour. Today is April 6th, 2026 and I am continuing my day 3 trip from Perry, Florida to Chokoloskee Island, Florida. In this video, I roll south from Bradley Junction, Florida on Old Highway 37 to Ona, Florida. Then I ride towards Punta Gorda, Florida on US Highway 17, and take a much need break and a fabulous, Gourmet, gas station meal in Cape Coral, Florida from US Highway 41. This video ends with a brief ride (in the rain again) on Interstate 75 and back onto US Highway 41 on my way to Everglades City, Florida and ultimately onto Chokoloskee Island, Florida
Florida Loop 2026 is the not so clever name for my motorcycle touring trip, riding a loop of the state of Florida…. hence the name of the trip
Florida Loop 2026 Total Miles = 2,261
Day 3 Part 2 miles traveled = 229 Miles Riding south mostly on Old Highway 37, US Highway 17, and US Highway 41.
Total miles for Day 3 (Part 1 & 2) = 386 Miles. Not too bad with rain, and the numerous breaks taken today. Had I started at a more decent time (I overslept and woke up in a panic about 20 minutes before checkout at 11am LOL) I would have most likely arrived in daylight instead of rolling the last bit in the dark. I very much prefer riding during the daytime, more to see and safer.
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Florida Loop 2026 is the not so clever name for my motorcycle touring trip, riding a loop of the state of Florida…. hence the name of the trip
Florida Loop 2026 Total Miles = 2,261
Day 2 miles traveled = 286 Miles riding Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola, Florida east on US Highway 98 to Holiday Inn Express in Perry, Florida
The original end of day plan for today was to camp at the Ocen Pond Campground near Lake City, Florida. However, I had a very late start today rolling out of camp around 1:30PM waiting for the heavy rain to subside enough so that I wouldn’t have to tear down camp in the heavy rain. I hate packing away soaked gear (it was still wet but not soaked by the time I packed up camp).
The heavy rains started at about 5:30AM and persisted for most of the day up until about 11:30AM – Noon.
Camp setup and tear down took me a bit longer than normal as a lot of my gear was new to me on this trip and I was also a bit rusty having been nearly 3 years since I last moto camped during my USA Midwest 2023 motorcycle tour.
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Florida Loop 2026 is the not so clever name for my motorcycle touring trip, riding a loop of the state of Florida…. hence the name of the trip
Florida Loop 2026 Total Miles = 2,261
Day 1 miles totaled 331 miles riding from Douglasville, Georgia through Montgomery, Alabama and ending the day in Pensacola, Florida camping in Big Lagoon State Park.
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Florida Loop 2026 was successfully completed at around 9PM EDT – April 11th, 2026. Total miles = 2,261, so less than the estimated 2,495 miles…..I have failed LOL Just kidding.
I am stil in a bit of travel haze right now. Once that clears, I wil start making blog entries and videos about the trip, Bruce, and my gear.
This trip felt much more like a rat race compared to some of my previous trips. I often found myself pressed for time, exhausted and sometimes pretty frusturated. There are many factors at play but weather, traffic density, and speed limits were the driving factors thowing off planned parts of the trip. Certainly some some things to consider in regards to future trips.
All of that being said, I consider Florida Loop 2026 a success even with some dinge on it LOL.
My Full Touring / Alaska 2028 Loadout is my touring packing load for extended long distance motorcycle touring / camping trips. For example, I am looking at my Alaska 2028 trip to be 43 days in total with 7 days in Anchorage with my son and wife for a family vacation. This setup is for spending weeks traveling on the motorcycle with significant camping involved.
To be clear, this is way overkill for my Florida Loop 2026 trip. But I am using that trip as my test flight per say for my motorcyle configuation and full touring loadout. Less extensive trips will have reduced loadout accordingly, especially trips that does not involve camping. I would say more than half of the items packed are related to camping.
Total Weight with empty Giant Loop Armadillo Bag = 200.75 Pounds
Total Weight with full Giant Loop Armadillo Bag = 219.35 Pounds
Total gear weight is about the weight of an adult.
The planned ride into Alabama with Tristan as Pillon was to ride into Alabama from Douglasville, Georga on Georgia Highway 5 / Alabama Highway 48, grab a quick lunch in Lineville, Alabama and then ride north on Alabama Highway 281 through the Talladega National Forest and then back to Douglasville, GA via non-interstate for a planned total of 178 miles roundtrip.
This section of Alabama Highway 281 has some nice twisties and some pretty hill country and rolls by Cheaha Mountain, at an elevation of 2,413 feet, is Alabama’s highest natural point.
Florida Loop 2026 is the not so clever name for my upcoming motorcycle touring trip, riding a loop of the state of Florida…. hence the name of the trip .
The trip as planned will be 8 days starting from Douglasville, Georgia to Pensacola, Florida and follow along the gulf and Florida’s west coast to the Everglades and Key West, Florida. Then turn around and roll north following Florida’s east coast (more or less) and some interior back to Douglasville, Georgia.
Planned Miles = 2,495
Camping Nights = 5
Hotel stays = 2
Kickstand up: April 04, 2026
This will be my first touring trip with Bruce, my 2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special.
For all of the planned details of this touring trip, Click Here for my original Florida Loop 2026 post.
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Dexter’s Last Tour – Deals Gap to Robbinsville North Carolina on US Highway 129.
The weekend touring trip of the North Carolina / Tennessee mountains was the last touring trip with Dexter, my 2005 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic. On October 4th, 2025, I put down the deposit to purchase Bruce, my 2025 Harley-Davison Pan America 1250 Special.
The final ride (excluding ride to Atlanta Harley-Davidson for trade in) was on October 10th, 2025 when DeAndra and I rode from Douglasville, GA to Newnan, GA to have lunch at Culver’s (about 67 miles round trip).
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Wanderlust Lyfe 