Where River and Prairie Meet the Sky - Myakka River State Park

Sarasota, FL (82 degrees, blue skies, low humidity, light breeze)

The title of our blog comes from the brochure we received upon entering this beautiful park and it's a perfect description. We planned a road trip with our friends France and Tony to Myakka River State Park, one of the oldest and largest Florida parks. It was about a two hour trip from Sanibel and an easy drive.   What a perfect day!  Temperatures were cooler, low humidity, and  thankfully no rain. Much of this park is wetlands and due to the frequent heavy rain storms over the past few weeks many of the trails were flooded. Despite this fact, we had a wonderful time.  

Myakka Lake

There is a picturesque seven mile drive which winds through numerous oak and palm hammocks.  The park is remarkable and we look forward to returning for more hiking and maybe a nice kayak paddle.  

Myakka River with beautiful palm and oak hammocks

Myakka River

We tried to hike the River Walk but quickly turned around due to very muddy conditions.  Everything was so lush and green.  We saw some cute Key Deer and many Wild Turkeys as we continued our drive.  

Myakka Lake

There were water lilies, purple iris, and hyacinth blooming on the lake and river.  The most popular inhabitants are alligators.  A guide later told us there were 500-1000 hanging out here. Yikes!  In addition, there are also over 2500 wild pigs and  evidence of their destructive behavior was noted on the trails.    

Birdwalk trail

Gator Girl

We signed up for an hour long airboat tour aboard the Gator Gal. It involved a very leisurely cruise on the upper lake.  This is not your typical high speed airboat tour and travels very slowly.  It was enjoyable but the sooner you get in line the better for getting a window seat.  It was narrated by a knowledgeable park ranger and he told us a lot about alligators.  He spotted many of them and the crowd sure enjoyed seeing them.  

The park gave us a very extensive list of the birds who frequent this area especially during the winter. We did not see very many this time due to the high water.

Afterwards we ate lunch at the restaurant next to the ticket booth.  It was excellent and the menu was quite extensive.  They also rent canoes and bicycles at the out post.  

The highlight for us was the Canopy Walk and Nature Trail.  It was a short walk to tower. and then you climb up a series of steps to reach a walkway suspended 25 feet in the air.  As you walk across, the view below is spectacular.  The resurrection fern was in all it's glory and there were beautiful air plants suspended everywhere.  I could have stayed up there for a long time but your time is limited due to others wanting to go across too.  

Nature Trail

John hiking over the walkway

Ferns and Spanish Moss

Resurrection Fern

At the end of the walkway you can choose to climb a 74 foot tower to get more of a birds eye view of the area.  John was the only one brave enough to hike up to the top.  It's not for the faint of heart.  :) The kids visiting the tower were having the best time.  The rest of us walked back down and waved at John as he climbed up and up.

Click on link for our e-bird list.  

We also checked out the campground and sites were roomy with good privacy in-between.  Water and electricity were available at each site.  Big rigs could easily fit is this very nice campground.

If you are in the Sarasota area, be sure to check out the tree tops.  It's a splendid way to get another viewpoint of nature.  

John Muir once wrote "in every walk with Nature one receive far more than he seeks". 

Don't you agree?