A wild and scenic river winds through prairie and pine forests
This large CCC-developed park covers 58 square miles of Southern Florida. We checked out the park with our cousin's family on a fall trip to Tampa. In her classic precision, my daughter would tell you that she went with her second cousin once removed. Us adults don't count...
The park preserves dry prairie habitat, now rare in the State of Florida. Dry prairie is covered in grasses, forbs and palmetto. When not subject to frequent fire, trees and shrubs tend to take over. Fire suppression methods used in the past have “extinguished” much of this type of habitat (#momjoke).
The park is also home to scattered wetlands and 12 miles of its namesake feature, the state-designated Wild and Scenic Myakka River. These watery habitats make the park a great place to see water fowl and alligators.
A 7-mile scenic drive snakes through the park. Soon after leaving the visitor’s center, the road passes over a bridge. This turns out to be one of the best places for easy alligator viewing in the park.
The truly best place for gators is probably “Deep Hole”—a sinkhole on the edge of the Lower Myakka Lake. It offers an abundant, year-round source of food for gators, and is particularly packed with gators on dry years. Maybe next time we’ll make it there.
The next major feature along the scenic drive is the Canopy Walkway. The Walkway is a 100-foot long suspension-style bridge hanging 25 feet in the air. This unique, tree-top "trail" takes you up above the Live Oak and Sabal Palm forest floor below. It is accessed by a short hiking loop that winds through the wooded area and adjacent wetlands.
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