This historic 9000-acre park opened in 1931. It's considered an old growth forest and full of bald…read morecypress trees. There are a wide variety of endemic wildlife and plants. The main feature of this wonderful park was the boardwalk that goes through the swamp forest. Some really old trees that are possibly 1000 years old, is located in this park. There are nine trails, a campground, a playground, and a picnic area. There's a 3-mile loop trail for biking and driving. Also, a museum and concession built by the Civilian Conservation Corps; they constructed many buildings, bridges, and blazed trails in Florida State Parks. We were staying nearby and decided to explore this park. I enjoyed the historic land and old trees. The boardwalk was pleasant to stroll on; I saw quite a few memorial plaques. Generations of people walking on the same paths decades ago. It's a peaceful place and I'm glad they didn't turn it into farmland back in the 1930s.

This park is wonderful, plenty of trails, a cute store and just peaceful nature where you can see…read moreall kinds of birds, sometimes deer or gators and it's just a great place to visit.

Loads of fun for everyone. Bring your energy and your racing stamina. Got over fear of heights with…read morethe zip line! Arcade was fun and all are just 2 credits, got a prize from one claw machine. Staff were very helpful and friendly. Bowling was fun with family. The gocarts were fast for an indoor karting place. Would come back again!

My family wanted to ride some go karts and from the reviews this place looked pretty decent. I can…read moresay that this place really is a lot of fun. Great customer service, have to sign waivers of course and the prices weren't that bad. Adults and kids ride separately at different time, and the adults go karts are very fast. For kids, they need to be 39" or above, my son is 4 and this was his first time riding in a go karts let alone drive one himself. I was nervous and explained to the worker this would be his first. The young man was polite and help explain to my son how to work the go karts. The "mini karts" go at a different speed which put me at easy, and my wife and I were so happy seeing our son driving on his own. The arcade was great, lots of fun games. We got a ninja warrior package and it's really nice but my son didn't care for it. The mini bowling was great for all ages, and there's ax throwing! We ate before we got there so we didn't try out the food. The place was clean and had more to offer, so we will be coming back. Great family outing, a great way to stay cool while having fun.

This is not open!!! The walkway is closed off!!' Only picnic tables available. And they were…read moreworking in the bathrooms that left a chemical smell for the whole area Lots of parking at the top

This park was the site of a 460 acre open-pit phosphate mine until the early 1980s. The land was…read moredonated to the Polk County Parks and recreation Division in 1984. The park borders the Peace River floodplain. This park is south of Kissingen Spring, which was once one of Florida's major springs pumping more than 20 million gallons a day. It stopped flowing in 1950 as a result of the flow of the Peace River dropping due to the increase of phosphate mining in the area from mines like this one. The park has a peaceful one mile elevated boardwalk that winds through the shady floodplain forest out to the Peace River. Along the way interpretive signs give background information on the 1,800-square-mile Peace River basin. There is an additional 7.5 miles of multi use trails for hiking and horseback riding through wetlands and scrub in the reclaimed mine lands to the west. The parking lot is at the top of the hill and there is a restroom and picnic pavilion in the park. The park is known as a great place to bird watch. Birds that have been sighted here include limpkins, winter ducks, green-winged and blue-winged teal, hooded merganser, gray catbird, blue-headed vireo, American white pelican, and eastern meadowlark. Raptors that have been recorded here are the Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Swallow-tailed Kite. More than 25 wood-warblers have been found in the park like the Louisiana Waterthrush and the Chestnut-sided Warbler. Peace river Mosaic Park is open 7 AM to dusk. Admission is free. This is a great place to get your steps in and take in the natural beauty of Polk County.

This is the nicest naturist resort we have been to. It really feels like a destination in a way…read moreothers do not. It has beautiful facilities of all kinds from tennis, basketball, pickle ball, library, research library, two pools, and several restaurants including one pool side. Everything is modern and well maintained. The rooms are comfortable, clean, and well appointed. The lake area is peaceful and they have boards and paddle boards for use without charge. However, the best part of the experience is the people and staff. This is one of the friendliest places I have ever been. I'm not the most socially adept person but ended up having great conversations in and around the pool all week. We were planning on taking side trips out, but just ended up staying there the entire time. It was so relaxing!!

Very nice stay..everyone was so friendly..Cheeks restaurant was great with reasonable prices. No…read morecomplaints at all with Cypress Cove!

I've lived on this beautiful little lake for years as my condo community has quite a bit of…read morefrontage. I know it very well so let's get started. Size & Location- Most folks think it's a small to medium lake at about 280 acres. It has a maximum depth of about 15 feet. The water is usually very clear and has no tannin. What a surprise! It's on Lake Damon Drive Which is immediately off US Route 27. You turn off Route 27 and you are pointing directly at the boat ramp less than fifty yards away! It's a good thing there is a sharp turn in the road, or your car could experience the boat ramp which I definitely do not recommend! This is the only public boat ramp on the lake. Shoreline- The shore is about one half developed. The remainder is still pretty wild. There is no public swimming here! Fishing- This is the primary activity at this lake. Bass and panfish are where it's at. Trophy bass have been taken here. Recreational Boating- Other than fishing, very little. A couple of my neighbors have pontoon boats which they take out from time to time. A few of my neighbors also have fishing boats. Exploring the undeveloped shore by kayak or canoe is popular for some. There is one jet ski which is rarely seen. Facilities- Bathrooms = nope. Ditto purchasing snacks or drinks. Do both elsewhere. Pro Tip- The closest restaurant is Market 27, two minutes away and it's excellent! You can also purchase drinks & snacks here. Check Yelp! Wildlife- It tends to congregate near the undeveloped shore and is most easily seen by boat. However, there have been lots of exceptions in the developed areas. Lots and lots of gators. Please don't feed them and especially don't feed them little dogs! The little pups really hate that so keep them on a leash and away from the water. One "Chomp" and it's over! Most of the time they don't even yip! An abundance of birds and snakes. Watch out for water moccasins! Lots of turtles. I love to see racoons, especially babies! Fox are pretty common. At least one family of otters lives here, and it is a true treat to see them! Black bears have been seen but it's rare. As you can tell this is not Orlando! Highlands County is an agricultural county and represents Central Florida that's not Disneyfied! I love living here. Let's go for four stars!

Usually a pretty good spot to go!! I prefer this area over Cocoa beach it's much cleaner…read more Unfortunately right now the seaweed situation has been pretty bad and they got hit pretty hard. But otherwise add this place to your go to spots

A beach is a beach when you live near one. To me there is nothing absolutely breathtaking about…read morethis beach. However, don't take it the wrong way. I still love the beach when I want to go to the beach. Luckily I know people that live near the beach so we park at their place and walk down to the beach. I've grown a very nice seashell collection from this beach. There are a few spots here and there along the beach that also great for a hangout if you want to be near the beach. Just beware of the parking meters if you don't know people who live in the area.

This park is amazing that is how I can describe it,not only it is huge but it is also beautiful and…read morehas so much for the kids to do while enjoying the outdoors there is also a kids museum close by. There is plenty of parking here but we aware you will be walking a lot thru this park even if you park close or not. For the kids I recommend bringing a bathing suite as there is a little river where the kids can play and get wet also bring snacks and drinks it gets very hot and there isn't to many places here to buy food or drinks. If there is an event like there was when we visited, be ready to park on the far side of the park and walk also you can bring bikes,scooters and skates to this park. This is truly a hidden gem in Lakeland,Fl and we enjoyed visiting here.

Always a five star experience…read more There is so much parking and depending on what you want to do you can park close to where you want to be. We always park close to the main playground and start there. It's actually a giant circle when you think about it, so we start at that playground then we move on to where there's the owl playground and the spinning carousels. Then we continue onwards to the treehouse, from the treehouse we go to where there's the main building where they had shaved ice and you can get food if you want then it's an easy walk back to the car. We always bring the kids scooters because the walk is a little far for them, they are five and seven. I did learn this time around that if you are older like my in-laws this park may be a little too spaced out, especially when it's hot outside. However, there is a tram that will bring you from place to place so we did end up taking the tram from the main building back to where we parked. We spent about an hour racing around just giant park. There is a lot of shade, but also you do need sunscreen. It is a majority outside and everyone knows how hot Florida gets. I think it is brilliant that at the main building they have shaved ice. Also, at the treehouse they sell drinks, a water bottle was three dollars, which was actually pretty reasonable so I got the kids water. Even though it's hot in Florida I really like the kids spending time outside so this is a fantastic place to spend a couple hours. I'm sure we could spend even more time here if we ever decide to check out rooftop bar or the food place, but for now we've only experienced the multitude of playgrounds. It never feels crazy, busy, but that's probably because it is so spread out that families can be all over this huge park.

I've paddled the Emerald Cut a few times now. Initially I didn't like the idea of paying to launch…read moremy own paddleboard. However, it's only $10 now that I have my own life jacket (saving me additional cost of $5 to use one of theirs, as required). Well worth the low cost for some soul-enriching, communing with nature. I have never made a reservation. I normally arrive around 10:30, most recently on a Friday. Parked for free on Baptist Camp Rd. Just a bit of a walk from there with my inflated paddleboard, but I don't mind the extra exercise. You can unload your stuff closer, if preferable. There are port-a-potties available. You can count on there being a line in the check-in office. Various recreation supplies are available there for purchase. The process moves reasonably enough. A reservation will guarantee your entrance, however, and possibly aide quicker personal info collection. I always plan to do the Emerald Cut in roughly 3 hours round-trip, allowing myself several stops to enjoy the surroundings. You do run into (quite literally at times) novice paddlers along the way, which can be a bit tricky, yet not a real nuisance for me. In general, there's friendliness along the waterway. Slighty rowdy, party vibes in some spots, but also opportunities for solace and zen in various nooks. Encountering wildlife, fragrant elderberry, and other captivating flora along this stretch is always gratifying. It's a popular recreation destination for good reason.

This is one of the most beautiful places in Florida! Highly recommend visiting at least once. Being…read morelocal, I've visited a number of times. A few things knock the stars down: - The amount of rules/ regulations is a downside. There are more than any other river we've visited in Florida. It's nerve wracking to make sure you're following every new rule. - Launching and landing at the dock is stressful. It feels rushed and disorganized. - The bathroom situation is DIRE. They have a few porta potties but they're pretty gross. - I've found some of the staff intimidating/ borderline rude. There are a lot of newbies to kayaking/ paddleboarding so patience is a virtue at busy times! It's a hard paddle up stream and coming back it can be easy to lose control around the corners. There are a few spots to be cautious of other paddlers. With that said, it's really stunning. They keep the area very clean and there are a lot of spots to pull off to the side to enjoy the view. I've never done a guided tour, but I've heard they're really well done!

Finally got there early enough to snag some tickets to swim in the spring. We got there right…read morearound 9 o'clock and to my surprise it wasn't too busy. Right around 11am is when it really started to pick up. They sell tickets in sections. We got the 9am to 1pm pass. They also have a 2pm to 6pm pass. The water was cold as usual but pretty clear this visit we were able to see lots of fish and some were even nibbling on our feet if we stayed still. There were lifeguards out watching the area and was very on top of people not bringing pool floats on the separate side where the spring was. Definitely recommend checking this one out before summers over.

Very rude staff. We understand that rules must be followed, but there are respectful and…read moreprofessional ways to communicate with people without being rude. We had a small dog with us at our campsite, and he briefly walked over to the campsite next to us. A staff member approached us and told us that if our dog was not kept on a leash, he would ask us to leave. We understand the rule and had no issue complying with it, but the way he spoke to us was unnecessarily rude and disrespectful. I am an IR nurse, and I always treat my patients with compassion and respect. Imagine if this staff member arrived at the IR department in pain or with an injury and was treated with the same level of rudeness. Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness, dignity, and respect.

Taking a group to have a fun filled day! Putt putt golf, amusement games of all kinds! Food too!…read moreAll in the ac! A really fun place for groups and parties! Kids love it. Fun for all ages!

Too expensive and birthday party rooms are very small and no TV's anywhere to watch sports or…read morewhatever