The New Bayshore-to-Sugden Boardwalk: A New Way to Explore East Naples

One of the things I love about Naples is that some of the best improvements are not necessarily the biggest or flashiest. Sometimes it is a new connection that suddenly makes an entire area easier, prettier and more enjoyable to experience.

The new Bayshore Pedestrian Boardwalk connecting Bayshore Drive with Sugden Regional Park is a perfect example.

The long-awaited pathway officially opened in February 2026, creating a pedestrian and bicycle connection between two places that previously felt surprisingly separate considering how close they are. The project has been discussed for more than two decades, and now that it is complete, I think it adds another interesting dimension to an area of Naples that has already changed tremendously in recent years.

So, What Exactly Is the New Bayshore Boardwalk?

The new connection begins along Bayshore Drive and takes walkers and cyclists through a 17-acre property before connecting directly into Sugden Regional Park.

And this isn't simply a sidewalk cut through an empty parcel.

From Bayshore Drive, the experience begins with a wide, landscaped promenade featuring a distinctive leaf-inspired paver design. From there, it transitions onto an elevated boardwalk that winds through restored native wetlands and uplands before connecting with the existing paved pathway around Lake Avalon at Sugden Regional Park.

The project was intentionally designed to be as much about the experience as the destination. Naples Botanical Garden contributed approximately 1,000 trees, shrubs and groundcovers to the site, helping transform what had been an overgrown parcel into a more natural Florida landscape. Native plantings were also incorporated around the water-management areas to help filter stormwater before it ultimately flows toward Haldeman Creek and Naples Bay.

For those of us who appreciate a good walk that actually goes somewhere, this is a welcome addition.

What You'll Find When You Reach Sugden Regional Park

The boardwalk connects directly with the pathway surrounding Lake Avalon at Sugden Regional Park, which gives you the option to turn a quick walk into a much longer outing.

Sugden centers around a 60-acre freshwater lake and offers a walking path around the lake, a lakeside beach, picnic areas, playground, butterfly garden, gazebo, sailing center and other recreational amenities.

That means you can now start on Bayshore Drive, walk or bike through the new boardwalk, enter Sugden and continue around Lake Avalon.

Or do it in reverse.

In fact, Collier County specifically notes that the boardwalk can be accessed directly from Sugden Regional Park, making the park a convenient starting point for anyone who wants to explore the connection from that direction.

Why This Is Bigger Than a New Walking Path

This is the part I find most interesting.

Bayshore has been gradually evolving from a road you primarily drove along into an area where you can actually spend part of your day.

Naples Botanical Garden is here. Celebration Park helped create a waterfront gathering spot. Rebecca's, Ankrolab Brewing Company, local restaurants, galleries, markets and small businesses have continued to give the Bayshore Arts District its own personality.

Now there is another piece of infrastructure connecting that activity with one of East Naples' largest recreational spaces.

The original vision for the boardwalk was not simply recreation. County planning documents described the project as a way to create safer pedestrian and bicycle connections, improve access to Sugden Regional Park and support the broader revitalization of the Bayshore district.

That distinction matters.

Successful neighborhoods aren't defined only by the homes within them. They are also shaped by what you can conveniently do once you walk out the front door.

Bayshore Is Becoming Increasingly Connected

If you haven't spent much time around Bayshore lately, it may be worth another look.

You can increasingly imagine a day where you visit Naples Botanical Garden, grab lunch or a drink somewhere along Bayshore, walk or bike the new boardwalk, make your way around Lake Avalon at Sugden and then head toward one of the area's restaurants for dinner.

And nearby, East Naples Community Park is home to the USOP National Pickleball Center, another major recreational draw for this part of Naples.

Individually, none of these amenities tells the whole story. Put them together, however, and you begin to see why Bayshore feels very different today than it did even several years ago.

The new boardwalk helps stitch those pieces together.

What Does This Mean for Nearby Real Estate?

Whenever a significant public improvement opens, I inevitably get some version of the question: "Is this going to increase property values?"

My answer is usually a little less exciting, but more accurate: real estate doesn't work quite that simply.

One new boardwalk doesn't automatically translate into a specific percentage increase in the value of surrounding homes. Property values are influenced by location, condition, inventory, demand, lot characteristics, insurance costs, interest rates and plenty of other variables.

What improvements like this can do is make an area more desirable and improve the lifestyle proposition for people considering living nearby.

Walkability, recreational access, bike connectivity, parks and nearby restaurants are all things buyers notice. When those amenities become easier to access, they can change how people perceive an area.

And Bayshore's evolution is particularly interesting because it isn't centered around one isolated project. The boardwalk is another piece of a much larger redevelopment story that has been unfolding for years.

It's Also Just a Really Nice Walk

We can analyze neighborhood development and real estate implications all day, but there is also a much simpler reason to check this out:

It's pretty.

The elevated boardwalk, native landscaping, wetlands and eventual arrival at Lake Avalon create a side of Naples that visitors don't always see.

Naples is understandably associated with beaches, palm trees, golf courses and Gulf sunsets. But Southwest Florida's wetlands, native plants and inland waterways are every bit as much a part of our landscape.

The boardwalk gives you an easy way to experience some of that environment without venturing very far from town.

My advice? Go early in the morning or later in the day when temperatures are more comfortable, wear good walking shoes, and give yourself enough time to continue around Lake Avalon if you're enjoying yourself.

Another Good Step for East Naples

I've watched different parts of Naples evolve over the years, and Bayshore continues to be one of the more interesting areas to follow.

It hasn't lost the eclectic, slightly unexpected personality that makes it different from many other parts of Naples. Instead, we're seeing more investment, better connectivity and additional reasons for people to spend time there.

The Bayshore-to-Sugden boardwalk may look like a relatively simple connection on a map. In practice, it connects neighborhoods, recreation, businesses and some of the area's most interesting destinations.

And sometimes those relatively small connections make a surprisingly big difference.

If you haven't walked it yet, add it to your Naples list. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by just how much there is to explore on this side of town.