Scenic Walking Trail Near Me: Miami Beach Beachwalk From South Pointe North

The Miami Beach Beachwalk runs nine miles along the sand, from South Pointe Park at 1 Washington Avenue to 87th Street at the Surfside line, and the city lists it as open Monday to Sunday, 24 hours. For anyone typing scenic walking trail near me from a South Beach hotel, this is the trail right behind the building: a wide paver promenade with dunes on one side, Collins Avenue towers on the other, no entry fee and no way to get lost.

For years the stretch between 23rd and 45th Streets was a raised wooden boardwalk, which is why many locals still say boardwalk when they mean the whole path. Miami Beach replaced those planks with a wider pavement of pavers, and the city dates the finished Beachwalk to June 2022. It was built to ADA standards and connects Miami Beach to Surfside and Bal Harbour, so a stroller, a wheelchair and a pair of running shoes now share one even surface for the length of the island.

The path is also one piece of a much longer idea. The city describes the Beachwalk as part of the Atlantic Greenway Network, a pedestrian and non-motorized corridor along the Eastern Seaboard from Maine to Key West. Nobody walks that far on a Saturday, but it explains the design choices you notice on the ground: no cafes built out onto the sand, regular beach entrances, and restrooms and water fountains placed at the entrances and adjacent parks rather than on the promenade itself.

The south end is the postcard. From South Pointe Park, where cruise ships glide through Government Cut on their way out of PortMiami, the path bends past the pier and runs up into South Beach. A few blocks later it reaches Lummus Park, the city park that lines Ocean Drive between 5th Street and 14th Place, with its painted lifeguard towers, volleyball nets and the Art Deco hotel fronts that appear in nearly every photo of Miami Beach.

The middle section, roughly 23rd to 45th Streets, is the old boardwalk zone and the best stretch for a steady, uninterrupted walk. The path tucks behind the big Collins Avenue hotels, with sea grape and dune grass screening the water. Cross streets are fewer, the crowd thins out, and beach entrances come up often enough that you can drop down to the hard sand near the waterline for a barefoot section and climb back up a few blocks later.

North of that, the city has spent the last several years closing gaps. A Middle Beach project built an on-grade walkway of about 9,305 feet, covering 18 city blocks from around 46th Street to Allison Park at 64th Street. Another extended the Beachwalk from 79th to 87th Streets through North Beach Oceanside Park, the final link to the northern city line. The north end feels residential and slow, and it is where to go when South Beach turns into a parade.

The rule that trips people up is about motors. Miami Beach prohibits all motorized transportation on the Beachwalk, and the city spells out e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards by name. That shared scooter you unlocked outside the hotel has to stay on the street. Ordinary bicycles are not on the banned list for the Beachwalk, so walkers should keep right and expect pedal bikes to pass on the wider stretches.

Ocean Drive has its own stricter rule. On the sidewalks between 5th and 15th Streets, the city bans bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, inline skates and every motorized device, so plan to walk your bike through that block-long stretch of cafes. The Beachwalk itself sits closer to the sand along Lummus Park, which is the easier lane for anyone with wheels.

Since January 1, 2023, smoking has been banned in all Miami Beach municipal parks and on public beaches. A first violation within 12 months carries a $100 fine, according to the city announcement of the ban, and unfiltered cigars are the only exemption it carved out. In practice that means no cigarettes or vapes on the Beachwalk where it runs through parks such as South Pointe and Lummus, and none on the sand when you step off the path.

Dogs are a harder no. The city prohibits dogs on its beaches except at the designated Bark Beach in North Beach, between 80th and 81st Streets, with the entrance at Collins Avenue and 81st Street. Bark Beach opens only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, so a weekday walk with a dog should stay on the streets inland. Owners who want the full ocean walk with their dog usually save it for a weekend and finish at the north end.

Because the path never closes, timing is your call, and in Miami it decides whether the walk is a pleasure or a slog. The first hour after sunrise is the sweet spot: the sun comes up over the Atlantic in front of you, the sand is still cool, and the path belongs to runners and early walkers. By late morning the sun is overhead and the paved sections have almost no shade, so carry a hat and more water than seems necessary.

Skip the Lummus Park stretch on weekend afternoons if you want an actual walk. That is where the beach crowd, the Ocean Drive crowd and the photo crowd all meet, and the pace drops to a shuffle. The better plan is to start farther north around the middle section, walk south toward South Beach as the light turns gold on the hotel facades, and stop when the crowds start. Late evening, when the sea breeze takes the edge off the heat, is the second-best window of the day.

Parking is the real obstacle. The city points walkers to on-street spaces and surface lots along the Beachwalk, and the closer you get to 5th Street on a weekend, the longer you will circle. Starting from a mid-island or North Beach entrance and walking toward the busy end is usually less stressful than fighting for a space near Ocean Drive. Every beach entrance connects back to Collins Avenue or Ocean Drive, so you can cut a walk short at almost any block.

For a short loop, use the two parks at the south end as anchors. South Pointe Park has open lawns, the fishing pier and a clear view across Government Cut toward Fisher Island, and its restrooms are a useful first stop. Lummus Park, a few blocks north along Ocean Drive, is a sensible turnaround for an easy out-and-back that still shows you the dunes, the lifeguard stands and the classic hotel strip. Longer walkers can keep going and pick a turnaround street by the number on the beach entrance signs.

Route: Miami Beach Beachwalk, from South Pointe Park at 1 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, north to 87th Street. Length: about nine miles one way. Hours: Monday to Sunday, 24 hours. Cost: free. Surface: wide, ADA-accessible pavers. Allowed: walking, jogging and non-motorized bicycles. Not allowed: e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, smoking, and dogs outside Bark Beach. Facilities: restrooms and water fountains at beach entrances and adjacent parks.