Landmark
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CR-92, the road off Marco Island that no rental-car direction mentions, and the fastest way east to the Everglades.
Photo: olekinderhookCC BY 3.0
Ask a satnav how to get from Marco Island to the Everglades and it will usually send you north over the Jolley Bridge, up Collier Boulevard to US-41 and then back east — a long, congested arc around three sides of a square. Locals do not do that. They take San Marco Road.
San Marco Road is County Road 92, although you will look a long time for a shield saying so; across the island it is unmarked and signed only by name. It leaves Collier Boulevard in the island's southeast quadrant and runs east through residential Marco, past the streets that back onto the water, curving along the northern edge of Barfield Bay. This is the part of Marco that the resort brochures do not photograph: single-storey houses, boat lifts, mangrove at the end of the street, and no towers at all.
Towards the island's eastern corner, Goodland Drive (CR-892) drops away south to the fishing village of Goodland. San Marco Road carries on and lifts onto the Stan Gober Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Marco Channel at a height that gives you the best land-based view of the Ten Thousand Islands anywhere on Marco: mangrove keys scattered south and east as far as the haze allows, with almost nothing built in any of it.
On the mainland side the road swings northeast, runs arrow-straight through low pine and cypress past the edge of Collier-Seminole State Park, and joins US-41 at a junction with a petrol station and not much else. From there, Everglades City is about forty minutes east, Miami is two and a half hours, and Naples is half an hour northwest.
The whole island-to-US-41 run takes about fifteen minutes. It is the single most useful thing a first-time visitor to Marco can learn about getting around.
San Marco Road leaves Collier Boulevard in the island's southeast quadrant, signed by name rather than by route number. From the Crescent Beach hotels, take Winterberry Drive or Barfield Drive across the island and turn east.
Heading east, follow it past the Goodland Drive turning, over the Stan Gober Memorial Bridge, and on to US-41. The whole run is about fifteen minutes.
At US-41: turn right (east) for Everglades City, Chokoloskee and ultimately Miami; turn left (northwest) for Collier-Seminole State Park, which is only a few minutes away, and for Naples.
Fill the tank on the island. There is no fuel, no shop and no restroom between Collier Boulevard and the US-41 junction.
Marco Island has two road bridges, and almost every visitor only ever uses one of them. The Jolley Bridge at the north end takes you to Naples, the airport at Fort Myers, and the shops. San Marco Road at the southeast corner takes you east, and east is where the Everglades are.
Practically, that means:
It also matters in the other direction. If you are arriving on Marco from Miami or from the east, you never need to touch Collier Boulevard or the Jolley Bridge at all, which on a Saturday in February can save you half an hour of crawling.
There is no fuel, no shop and no restroom between Collier Boulevard and US-41. Fill up before you leave the island.
The bridge at the island's eastern corner carries San Marco Road roughly 55 feet over the Marco Channel. It was built in 1975 as the Goodland Bridge and later renamed for Stan Gober, who founded Stan's Idle Hour in the village below it and spent decades making Goodland famous for a Sunday afternoon that has to be seen.
It replaced a wooden swing bridge dating from 1938 — and that older bridge, not the Jolley, was the first vehicle link Marco Island ever had. For thirty-one years the way onto this island was a narrow wooden span at the back door, which is why Goodland and Olde Marco are the oldest settled corners and why the resort strip, arriving with the Jolley in 1969, sits at the opposite end.
The view from the top going east is the reason to drive it slowly. Marco Channel below, Goodland's docks to the south, and beyond them the Ten Thousand Islands running off towards Cape Romano in low green smudges. There is nowhere to stop on the bridge and no walkway worth using, so take it in at 45mph or photograph it from Goodland instead.
The island stretch is ordinary suburban road with a 35 to 45mph limit, streetlights and pedestrian crossings. Watch for cyclists — this is a popular route — and for the raccoons and possums that treat Marco's canals as a highway network.
East of the bridge it changes character completely. The mainland section is unlit, straight, and bordered by ditch and scrub with no shoulder to speak of. The speed limit rises and so does everyone's speed.
This is Florida panther country, and the crossing signs are not decoration. Panther deaths on Collier County roads are reported every year, mostly at night. So are collisions with black bear and with deer. None of those are survivable at 60mph in a rental car.
Drive it in daylight if you can. If you cannot, keep to the limit, use full beams where there is no oncoming traffic, and scan the verge rather than the centre line. The same advice applies doubled on US-41 east of the junction, which runs for miles through the Big Cypress with nothing either side.
San Marco Road is the island's main east-west cycling route and the one that takes you somewhere rather than round in a circle. A shared-use path has been built along it in phases, extending towards Goodland, which has made a ride that used to be a shoulder-share considerably more civilised.
The Goodland run is the classic: out from central Marco on San Marco Road, south on Goodland Drive, lunch at the water, back. It is roughly flat, about ten to twelve miles round from the Crescent Beach hotels, and the only climb is the bridge approach if you choose to take it.
Do not ride east of the bridge. The mainland section of CR-92 has fast traffic, no meaningful shoulder and no reason to be on a bicycle.
Timing matters more than fitness here. Ride before nine in the morning between May and October — the heat and the afternoon storms are both serious — and carry more water than the distance suggests. There is no shade for most of the route.
Operators run these trips past San Marco Road, or stop there as part of a longer route. We list what the booking data supports — not everything that mentions the name.
Some links below go to Viator, our booking partner. We earn a commission on bookings made through them — at no extra cost to you, and with no influence on what we recommend.
Private and Luxury
Our Marco Island Sightseeing and Shelling Tour departs from the Goodland Boat Park, in Goodland, FL. On our two hour ecotour you will…
2 hours
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Low Last Minute Supplier Cancellation Rate
Operate your own 2 person catamaran through the winding and breathtaking waterways of the 10,000 Islands. Excitement, tranquility, thrill…
1–2 hours
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Private and Luxury
As the top shelling company in all of Florida, we take pride in providing our guests with a truly unique and unforgettable experience. Our…
3 hours
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Top Product
Our private excursion allows you to enjoy the beautiful waters of The 10,000 Islands without the crowds of tourists at a comparable price…
2–3 hours
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Curated Catalog
Excited to catch some fish in Marco Island? Having logged many hours on these tides, Our Captains are prepared to put you on fish. All of…
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Nature and Wildlife Tours
Begin your private charter with a scenic cruise through Naples Bay and the waterways of Port Royal, home to some of Naples' most…
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Straight-line distances, so allow more on the road — the island is long and has one main parkway.
Neighbourhood
A few hundred people, one road in, stone crab traps stacked in the yards. The opposite of the resort side of the same island.
1.5–5 hoursFree to visit. Boat launch fees apply at the county ramp.3.7 mi away
Water feature
Marco Island's quiet back-side estuary, a foot deep over grass and oyster bar, best seen from a kayak and barely seen from land.
2–5 hoursFree. Launch and parking fees apply at Caxambas Park, and hire or a guide is charged separately.0.8 mi away
Park
6,430 acres of mangrove and royal palm hammock twenty minutes east of Marco, with the last Bay City walking dredge parked by the gate.
1.5–7 hoursA small per-vehicle entry fee in the usual Florida state park band, paid at the ranger station or honour box.7.6 mi away
Marina
The county ramp at Marco's southern tip, rebuilt after Ian, and the shortest launch to Kice Island and Cape Romano.
0.5–4 hoursPark entry is free. Boat launching is charged per launch, with an annual county pass available.2.1 mi away
Where this place fits into a day, and the pages that plan one.
Guide hub
Marco Island is the largest island in the Ten Thousand Islands, and the only one with traffic lights. That single sentence explains almost…
Guide hub
An honest warning before the list: Marco Island has almost no ticketed attractions. There is no aquarium, no theme park, no historic district with a…
Plan your trip
Yes, you need a car on Marco Island. No, you do not need a boat — but a boat is the thing that changes what the island is, and that is a different…
Things to do
Marco sits at the western door of the Everglades, which is a genuine geographical advantage and a persistent source of booking confusion. The…
Budget
Marco is an expensive island to sleep on and a cheap one to spend a day on, provided you understand where the money actually goes. Almost nothing…
Guide
The estuary starts ten minutes from the dock and the good bottom fishing is thirty miles out. Understand that ratio and you will book the right boat.
8 min readWyatt Coombs
Yes. The Judge S.S. Jolley Bridge carries Collier Boulevard onto the island's north end and handles nearly all the traffic. The Stan Gober Memorial Bridge carries San Marco Road (CR-92) onto the southeast corner near Goodland, and it is the quicker way to and from anywhere east. Neither charges a toll. Knowing about the second bridge is the single most useful piece of local knowledge for getting around Marco.
San Marco Road east. Take CR-92 across the island, over the Stan Gober Memorial Bridge, and onto US-41 — about fifteen minutes. From there, Collier-Seminole State Park is a few minutes northwest and Everglades City is around forty minutes east via SR-29. Going north over the Jolley Bridge instead adds twenty to thirty minutes, and considerably more on a winter Saturday.
The island section is ordinary suburban road with lighting. The mainland section east of the bridge is unlit, fast and runs through Florida panther range, with signed wildlife crossings that reflect real collisions. Panther, bear and deer strikes are reported on Collier County roads every year, mostly after dark. Drive it in daylight where you can, keep to the limit, and watch the verge rather than the centre line.
Yes, and it is the best ride on the island. A shared-use path has been built along San Marco Road in phases towards Goodland, making what used to be a shoulder-share much safer. The round trip from the Crescent Beach hotels is roughly ten to twelve miles and almost entirely flat. Ride before nine in the morning from May to October, carry water, and do not continue east of the bridge — that road is no place for a bicycle.