Myakka River State Park

Photo by Terry Lineberger

Myakka River State Park is one of Florida's oldest state parks. Its namesake river is one of only two rivers in the state to have a "Florida Wild and Scenic River" designation. This designation preserves the 34-mile portion of the river in Sarasota County, particularly the basin of lakes and marshes that the river flows through.

Photo by Terry Lineberger

Wildlife sightings may include alligators, manatees, turtles and wading birds, as well as bald eagles, ospreys, sandhill cranes and other shore birds depending upon the time of year you visit.

Photo by Terry Lineberger

The Canopy Walkway was inspired by Dr. Margaret Lowman, a former director of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, who saw Florida's forests as imperiled as many of the rainforests she studied and wanted to use the same methods to study and conserve Florida's ecosystems. It consists of a suspension bridge 85 feet long and 25 feet high and a tower reaching a height of 74 feet high.

Photo by Terry Lineberger

A visitor center provides more information about the park and a concession is available for air boat rides, tram tours, canoe and kayak rentals, bike rentals, food, books and souvenirs. Picnic areas, two campgrounds, log cabins, playgrounds, ranger programs and special events are also on site.

The park is located nine miles east of I-75 at 13208 State Road 72, Sarasota, Florida and  is open 365 days from 8:00 am until sunset with an entrance fee of $6.00 per vehicle for 2 to 8 persons.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park is described in the state park brochure as an inspirational literary landmark. For a writer, it is indeed.

This famous author moved to Cross Creek in 1928 where she lived in her cracker style home for 25 years and wrote The Yearling, a Pulitzer prize novel. Both her house and farm yard have been restored to the original period and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2007.  Additionally, the US Postal Service released a Rawlings commemorative stamp in 2008 and Florida's governor honored her as a First Floridian in March 2009. 

Visitors to her homestead are greeted at the barn by rangers,dressed in 1930s period clothes and knowledgeable about her stories and her farm life, for guided tours through the farmhouse from October through July.

 
 The farm yard is also maintained as it was in 1930s complete with chickens and ducks and a garden bearing seasonal flowers, fruits and vegetables while the citrus grove still yields its annual crop.

Two trails lead into surrounding woods where bald eagles, sand hill cranes and deer as well as smaller creatures make their home. The tenant house is tucked between the grove and woods and is a restored tenant house moved from the neighboring Brice family home. It resembles the original Rawlings tenant house where both black and white employees lived while they worked on her farm and in her grove.

History buffs, writers, as well as, nature lovers will truly appreciate this park.

Ravine Gardens State Park

Ravine Gardens State Park is located in Palatka where a ravine was formed by water flowing from the ridges of the St. Johns River over a period of thousands of years.

The gardens inside the park are the result of a joint effort of the City of Palatka, the Federal Works Progress Administration, and the Federal Civil Works Administration during the Great Depression. The park is one of nine New Deal-era state parks in Florida developed to help jump start economic recovery during the 1930s. Over 95,000 Azaleas were planted by 1934 and most of the original landscaping features - the main entrance, two suspension bridges, amphitheater, stoned terraces and columns, fountain and the Court of States - are still in place today.

The Ravine Loop, a convenient paved road that winds around the ravine, provides bicyclists and motorists with a view of both the formal and natural gardens throughout the park and gives access to hiking trails, parking, picnic areas and a playground.

The park is most spectacular and alive with color January through April when the Azaleas, Chickasaw Plums, Dogwoods and Camellias are in bloom, but the dense vegetation abounds year round.