Weedon Island, Tampa Bay's quiet shore.

About the preserve and the trail

Weedon Island Preserve is a 3,190-acre natural area on the western shore of Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, managed by Pinellas County. A kayak company here starts every request with the questions a guide actually needs: who is paddling, their experience and the time of day.

The preserve's South Paddling Trail is a 4-mile loop through mangrove tunnels and seagrass flats between islands. The Tunnel Run and the First Paddle are written around that trail.

The trail is best paddled at mid to high tide, so a tide chart comes before a time. Tunnel Vision's guides ask for a window, and a person confirms the time that suits the water.

Weedon Island is also a designated archaeological area with shell mounds, and a 40-foot dugout canoe found there is believed to be about 1,100 years old. The Shell Mounds and Stories tour lets a guide talk through that history, and the preserve’s Cultural and Natural History Center, which opened in December 2002, covers the same ground.