Fantastic Kayak Launch...prepare for short carry to the slide in ramps…read more Lot's & Lot's of wildlife.... If it EVER reopens after Milton!! Let go Sarasota County, please reopen this very special park!!

Not to be confused with the state park with a similar name, this is a lil park at the end of Laurel…read moreRd past some new developments. It has a kayak, canoe boat launch. Nice paved trail and picnic tables and lots of side trail views of Myakka River. Quite lovely. No animals or dogs allowed. Beware of gators. We saw a lil one. I let it nibble on my toes. The only garbage is by entrance gate. Please take out what you bring in. Take only.photographs. Bathrooms by entrance. Closes at sunset.

Beautiful and scenic bike path with plenty of wildlife and well maintained trails. Stopped to watch…read morethe small planes take off and land at Venice airport.

Nice easy trail. Wide, flat with little shade. Plenty of access points and convenient parking. We…read moreentered from Shamrock Park. Bathrooms were clean. Nature Center was closed. No maps of trails available. Maps were posted. Not sure where Circus Bridge is to cross to other-side. We pedaled north to the Legacy Trail. Lots of wildlife along the trail from waterfowl to iguana, gopher tortoise and squirrels.

This is a great big park near the Englewood History Museum. A playground is between them. A…read morehistorical marker discusses the former airport that was on the site and Tamiami Trail (road to Miami) history. I think group camping events use this area? Dogs are allowed only in the trail section. Some native plantings would be a great addition to the very very large grassy areas. But green space is always good. Park it!!!

We were driving back to our vacation rental and came across this park. We stopped so the kids could…read moreplay for a while! It was a nice playground with somewhat clean restrooms.

The Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park is peaceful and tranquil place with lots of hiking…read more trails.The trails are muddy and wet most of the year however definitely worth a great outdoors experience. There were not slot of people our there so if you want hiking with out a lot of people this is the place. There are some dry trails all year that go around lakes with boardwalks , picnic areas and a nature center. Also on Tuesday and Friday they have native plants for sale. Amazing beautiful place.

We visited this nature preserve 2/11/22 while waiting for our plane to leave from the Punta Gorda…read moreAirport and saw turtles, armadillo and fish. No alligator sightings or feral hogs but others out there had recently seen both. This was a very nice hike on a beautiful day before we head home to 12 degree weather.

Nice big preserve with some good trails, bird, butterfly, and wildflower spotting. Saw quite a bit…read moreof yellow milkwort in later May 2025. Bathrooms. Primitive camping. Mountain biking trail. Bathrooms. Good signage and trail markings.

A beautiful landscape thanks to a trust fund. The trailhead has a helpful map. Take a photo…read morebefore starting your trek. You have an option for a 3.3 mile loop or a shorter inner loop. I was planning for the larger loop but ended making a haphazard figure eight. The trail has numbered markers. The only problem is the roads often fork, which are not always on the map. Also, I could not find the observation tower because there was no signage. I easily walked five miles, more than I intended. Also, my photo dis not capture that section near 10. Murphy's Law at work. During March, I did not need bug spray but I am glad I brought extra water. The beginning and last half mile offers little shade. Trail section 12-14 is in a wetland area and close to the highway. It was also a bit uneven. A nice array of fauna and wild irises in the wetland area. In order to see the river, you need to take a detour from one of the offshoots. I recommend number six, which also has a picnic table.

Definitely a great hiking or running circuit. Some lovely view spots along the way. Gopher…read moretortoises. Known as gophuses to my lil. There's also a close in wilder narrow river trail for the firdt section. A loop is always a good trail design. This trail includes some nice sandy flatwoods and old wooded.oak sections with lota of air plants.covering the trees. Recommend.

15 miles paved bike trail at Charlotte County. Restrooms at…read moreboth end,plus bike pump stations. Very civilized. Has numerous rest areas along the path,with extra parking lots,picnic tables and porter potties too. Well traveled,but still quite,peaceful and nature focused. We seen a raccoon,gopher tortoise,several tropical birds on our 2 hour leisure bike ride. Glad we find this! I'm surprised The Pioneer Trail is not advertised more, but I guess others loss is our gain. We'll be back!

This is, I believe, the first rails to trails established in Florida. It is narrower than most…read morerails to trails and sufficiently accommodates foot, bike and skating traffic. Lots of nature to see along this one way 6.5 miles or roundtrip 13 miles from gopher tortoise, gators, fish and fowl to greenery, bridges and the fresh outdoors. Very flat trail. Leads to Boca Grande Gasparilla Trail and beautiful water views. Plenty of shade, benches, rest rooms, parking and some water at various trailheads.

Checking out different off-leash play areas for my giant-breed pup and today's adventure was to…read moreBlue Heron. It's a fairly short ride from my home, and the description sounded nice. The good points: easy access off of River Road, adequate parking, nice sally port setup for both small dog and large dog enclosures, water bowls and fountains for both people and pets, umbrella-shaded seating areas in both enclosures, and waste bags and disposal bins in both areas. As for the not-so-good points, while there are the above-mentioned shaded seating areas for people, there really are none for dogs, nor are there any trees in or near the large dog enclosure at all. (I don't recall seeing any in the small dog enclosure either, but I may just not have looked carefully enough.) If it's anything but early morning or late evening, your dog has no choice but to be in full sun at this park. And the second detractor from this little park is that while the walking paths around the enclosures are wide and well kept, and are paved with shell in areas, they also all traverse pretty dense underbrush on both sides in some areas, and next to perfectly suited gator habitat ponds in others. Don't get me wrong - I'm not an anti-gator person AT ALL: I have always said since I first stepped foot in Florida 16 years ago that alligators (along with Florida's other apex predators, venomous snakes, disease-carriers like armadillos, venomous spiders, and protected species like burrowing owls and gopher tortoises) were in Florida long before I or anyone reading this was, and they belong here. I'm of the opinion that it is up to **US** to stay away from and leave **THEM** alone, not the other way around. That said, though, to see signs warning about gators and snakes along the walking paths is one thing if humans are the most prevalent non-native species to visit it. We take our own risks and unless they're very large, gators are USUALLY not interested in prey as large as a person. It's a different situation, however, when dogs are as likely as humans to be on that path, and that just seems like a very unwise idea to me, especially with all the stories we hear in the news about people walking their dogs too close to alligator habitat and losing their pets to a hungry gator as a result. After letting my puppy explore the large dog enclosure for a bit I started to walk him around the park, but after only a few yards, eyeing up the water (3 separate, large, unfenced ponds that I could see - not that fencing will necessarily stop a gator as they ARE known to climb them), the sluices, and the dense underbrush around, I decided it wasn't really a good idea, and we returned home. So a pretty park, and if it's just you and you want to walk the perimeter as well, probably a good place for those morning or evening laps. If it's you and your dog, probably wiser to stay in one of the enclosures, and with no trees for your dog to lie and relax under between play bouts, avoid high sun hours altogether.

Great walking/ running trails. Nice Florida nature setting with pond views. Plenty of benches to…read moretake in the views, bird watch or rest. Has 2 dog parks for your little friends. I didn't give it 5 stars because there was some construction and parts of the trails were closed.