The South Bay Crossroads Center park is located next door to the South Bay RV Park and campground…read moreon the southern bank of Lake Okeechobee, the largest freshwater lake in Florida. Entrance to this park is next to the Sweet Bay campground. The park takes it's name from the fact that the town of South Bay is at the crossroads where two major roads, East-West State Road 80 and North-South U.S. 27 intersect. South Bay is the western most city in Palm Beach County. The conference center in the park is a 3,200-square-foot community building with catering kitchen but it is currently boarded up. What drew me to the park was the 1926 railroad workers cottage visible from the road. As a fan of historical buildings I had to stop and check it out. The railroad was built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. The FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Flagler who built the railroad to Key West. Unfortunately the cottage is closed and looks like it needs some restoration. There aren't many buildings left relating to Flagler's time at the railroad so it was very cool to discover this piece of history.

This is a park located in Palm Beach county, Lake Harbor, Florida. It's not a large park. In fact…read moreit kind of reminds me of a rest stop on steroids. Maybe because it's like a loop where you can enter at one end and exit at the other. A person could walk the entire length of the park in 30 minutes (or less). There are lots of big shade trees for their many picnic tables. There's a pavilion for large parties (call the number on the display board to reserve) with a small, fenced in playground next to it for the youngsters. There's also a full sized basketball court. Importantly, not far from the entrance there's a block building with restrooms. It's located adjacent to the Herbert Hoover Dike which encircles Lake Okeechobee and was built in response to the great Miami Hurricane of 1926 and the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 which killed thousands of people when the Lake breached a small simple earthen dike. It was designed for the purpose of flood control, water conservation, prevention of saltwater intrusion, and preservation of fish and wildlife populations. For the engineers or mechanically inclined, you'll find some old retired pumps on display, that you may find interesting. I enjoyed my brief visit as it gave me a chance to get off my bike and stretch after a long ride. Next time I think I'll walk up onto the dike. Park hours are sunrise to sunset. Dogs must be on a leash. It's worthy of a stop.

This beautiful huge park is located along the south edge of Lake Okeechobee and adjoins the Lake…read moreOkeechobee Scenic Trail. The park has a basketball court, access for kayaking or canoeing, a large multi-purpose field and several picnic areas with grills. There is a large playground that is suitable for ages 2 to 12. Lots of parking and lots of space. I had a good walk and a nice picnic that was socially distanced and included lots of fresh air. [Review 14812 overall, 314 of 2021, number 1302 in Florida.]

This is a 1,094-acre protected natural area adjacent to the North County Airport but only a small…read moreportion is accessible. The two preserve areas that make up Sweetbay were created in 1993 from land set aside to offset the environmental impact of the creation of the North County Airport. In 2002 the land was named Sweetbay Natural Area. The ecoysytems of this natural area include mesic flatwoods, hydric flatwoods, wet prairie, baygall, mesic hammock, and dome swamp ecosystems. In the center of the wetlands is a tree island called a bay head that contains sweetbay, dahoon, coastalplain willow, and pond apple trees. The bay head provides a nesting habitat for wading birds such as the snowy egret, black-crowned night-heron, blue heron, and the wood stork which is endangered. Other animals that make their home in Sweetbay include pine warblers, eastern towhees, Bachman's Sparrows, swallowtail butterflies, red-shouldered hawks, bobcats, eastern lubber grasshoppers, and Florida box turtles. This area is also known for it's beautiful wildflowers. Winding through Sweetbay is the paved .35 mile Tarflower Trail which branches off. One path leads to an observation platform overlooking the wetlands and the other path loops around making for a very easy walk. This preserve is part of the Great Florida Bird and Wildlife Trail. There are no restrooms or water available here so plan accordingly.

This very well manicured park is located along the road that cuts across central Florida through…read moreClewiston. It was a great stop to stretch my legs and get some fresh air in between long drives. The park has walkways, picnic tables, gazebo and a playground. There are also some cute swings if you want to sit and watch the traffic that you're about to rejoin. The center of the park showcases a memorial honoring the WWII British Cadets. [Review 14814 overall, 316 of 2021, number 1303 in Florida.]

What a cute little park. It is the type of park that sticks out because of how well kept it is. Its…read morelocated in the middle of Clewiston. It is a small park. There are no fees to pay. It does have parking spaces next to the park. It has a small walking trail all around great for exercise. The view is nice if you walk it. I think it will probably take 10 minutes to complete the entire walking trail. The parked is well maintained. It has beautiful flowers planted all around. It has big beautiful trees and a good variety of plans too. This is one pretty park. I saw a really cute gazebo too. This place is perfect for an afternoon. I saw tennis courts next to the park. I don't know if they are part of the park or they just happen to be next door.

Excellent RV camping experience!!! Especially AM when U…read morewake. It's just like being on the ocean. All the campers are returnees and are very friendly. The staff are ok but the restaurant needs to be reopened. When local resident and entrepreneur, Mr. Jim Sheehan developed the business 20 years ago, he built the campground and also rented out lake side cabins. Better than RV camping!! Alas, Hurricanes Francis and Charlie chewed up the entire area, including all his beautiful wood cabins and even damaged the huge Herbert Hoover dike ( in 1930's) which surrounds the entirety of Lake Okechobee. There are a couple of the cabins still available for rent, through Airbnb.

This used to be the Loggerhead Club & Marina. The marina was built by the city in 2009. Now it's…read moreowned by KOA. Very nice facility, up and coming once it gets off the ground. My contribution is adding it to Yelp. Best of luck!

Finding the sanctuary amid all the fields and parking lots, with no good signage, was daunting…read more Once there, it seems this piece of wetlands is dying, choked by algae (runoff from sports fields?) and relatively few birds as they are losing another food source.

Excellent walking trail with a lot of wildlife-as the name suggests it's a peaceful place -we took…read morethe walk around the water as opposed to the boardwalk-sadly did not see any alligators but will be back! We did see a lot of beautiful birds and ducks.

Pine Glades is a 6,651 acre natural area that protects environmentally sensitive pine forest and…read morewetland habitats. It opened in 2014 making it one of Palm Beach's newest natural areas. There are five native Florida ecoystems here: mesic flatwoods, wet flatwoods, wet prairie, depression marsh, and dome swamp. Previously the land was used for agriculture and was purchased for the preserve between 1999-2010 with some of the funds coming from the Florida Communities Trust. Non-native invasive plant were removed including 576 acres of melaleuca, an invasive tree, water flow was restored across the site, and the pine flatwoods/wet prairie mosaic community that were removed for farming were replaced. This natural area is part of the Northeast Everglades Natural Area and Loxahatchee River watershed. Most of the acres of this natural area are wet prairies, marshes, ponds and wet flatwoods with cypress domes, slash pines and cabbage palms. The wetlands attract native wading birds like the roseate spoonbill, great blue heron, little blue heron and white ibis. Other animals that have been recorded here include the great horned owl, raccoons, deer, river otters, bob cats, box turtles, and alligators. Plants that live here include goldenrod, pickerelweed, slash pine, giant wild pine, and beauty berry. There are several hiking trails here. The Flagfish Loop Trail is paved and is only .8 miles. There are two overlooks along the trail that give you a great view of the birds on the wetlands. The Wiregrass Loop Trail is 4.4 miles and is natural earth as is the 1.5 mile Quail Trail. The Old Wire trail is .6 miles and it connects the two ends of the Wiregrass Loop Trail. There wasn't any shade here so it was pretty brutal in the sun. Maps are available on a board adjacent to the parking lot. Bikes are not permitted on the trail. In addition to hiking there is a canoe/kayak launch so you can launch your non motorized boat here. I brought my inflatable kayak. This natural area is also wonderful for nature photography and bird watching. There is no drinking water here here but there is portable toilets. Pine Glades is open until sunset and is listed as one of the best places to see the sunset in Palm Beach County. Unfortunately I had to leave early and get ready for work the next day but I hope to come back and see the sunset and explore the trails I missed.

This very large park is located not far from US-27 in far western Palm Beach County and abuts…read moreGlades Central Community High School. There's a lot going on and I enjoyed the park today with a nice walk and stretch after getting across from Fort Myers. Baseball, basketball, softball, tennis courts, volleyball sand courts, a splashpark, swimming pool, restrooms (closed this morning), and a big playground. I had a nice walk on the 1.25 mile walking path though not the whole thing. There is plenty of parking but not much shade. Out here in the middle of Florida, shade is important. The picnic shelters and the picnic pavilion can be reserved through the county parks department. [Review 19289 overall - 1637 in Florida - 259 of 2023.]