Myakka River State Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Myakka River State Park
IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)
Location	Manatee and Sarasota counties, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Sarasota, Florida
Coordinates	27°14′31″N 82°18′50″W / 27.24194, -82.31389
Area	37,000 acres
Established	1934
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Myakka River State Park is a Florida State Park, located east of Sarasota and southeast of Bradenton. The park's area is split between Sarasota County and Manatee County. The park is named after the Myakka River. It is one of the state's largest, at 37,000 acres (150 km²), and oldest, as it was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

[edit] Things to do

Myakka River State Park has an excellent system of hiking trails. Walking trails crisscross the Eastern side of the park. Six primitive campgrounds, each equipped with a pitcher pump to provide water, dot the area. Horseback riding and biking is permitted on other trails and roads in the park. This part of the park is dominated by expanses of very low vegetation, fields of palmetto, that transitions to islands of tall pine and oak trees.

A good portion of the park is reachable by automobile. Myakka River State Park's main road takes visitors to a boardwalk out to the river and lake, excellent for bird watching. Another short walk from the main road reveals Myakka's Canopy Walkway, a suspension bridge and tower providing researchers and visitors views of the forest canopy and a spectacular above the treetops view of the entire park. Picnic areas, canoeing, boat tours, and developed campsites are available. The park even has five cabins that were built not with logs, but with the trunks of sabal palms.

[edit] Gallery

A Roseate Spoonbill.	Alligators abound.	Black-necked Stilt.	A Great Egret
The Boat Basin with airboats Gator Gal and Myakka Maiden	A Great Blue Heron.	Kayaking on the Myakka River.	Myakka River Sunset

[edit] External links

• Myakka River State Park's official site
• Myakka River State Park at Florida State Parks
• Myakka River State Park at State Parks
• Myakka River State Park at Absolutely Florida

• Myakka River State Park at Visit Florida
• Myakka River State Park at Wildernet

v • d • e Protected Areas of Florida National Park Service Biscayne National Park • Dry Tortugas National Park • Everglades National Park • Castillo de San Marcos National Monument • Fort Matanzas National Monument • Big Cypress National Preserve • Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve • De Soto National Memorial • Fort Caroline National Memorial • Canaveral National Seashore • Gulf Islands National Seashore National Forests Apalachicola • Choctawhatchee • Ocala • Osceola State Parks Amelia Island • Anastasia • Avalon • Bahia Honda • Bald Point • Big Lagoon • Big Talbot Island • Bill Baggs Cape Florida • Bulow Creek • Caladesi Island • Camp Helen • Cayo Costa • Collier-Seminole • Curry Hammock • Delnor-Wiggins Pass • Devil's Millhopper • Don Pedro Island • Eden Gardens • Egmont Key • Falling Waters • Faver-Dykes • Florida Caverns • Fort Clinch • Fort Cooper • Fort George Island • Fort Pierce Inlet • Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou • Gasparilla Island • George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier • Highlands Hammock • Hontoon Island • Hugh Taylor Birch • John D. MacArthur Beach • John Pennekamp Coral Reef • John U. Lloyd Beach • Jonathan Dickinson • Little Talbot Island • Long Key • Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson • Mike Roess Gold Head Branch • Navarre Beach • North Peninsula • O'Leno • Oscar Scherer • Ravine Gardens • River Bluff Picnic Site • Sebastian Inlet • Skyway Fishing Pier • St. George Island • St. Joseph Peninsula • Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center • Stump Pass Beach • Tomoka • Torreya • Windley Key Fossil Reef Botanical Alfred B. Maclay Gardens • Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock • Lignumvitae Key • Washington Oaks State Gardens Lakes, Rivers and Springs Deer Lake • Lake Griffin • Lake June in Winter Scrub • Lake Kissimmee • Lake Louisa • Lake Manatee • Lake Talquin • Alafia River • Blackwater River • Econfina River • Guana River • Hillsborough River • Little Manatee River • Myakka River • Ochlockonee River • Silver River • Suwannee River • Blue Spring • De Leon Springs • Edward Ball Wakulla Springs • Fanning Springs • Homosassa Springs Wildlife • Ichetucknee Springs • Lafayette Blue Springs • Madison Blue Springs • Manatee Springs • Peacock Springs • Rainbow Springs • Troy Springs • Wekiwa Springs • Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Recreation areas Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek • Dead Lakes • Dunns Creek • Gamble Rogers Memorial • Grayton Beach • Henderson Beach • Honeymoon Island • Oleta River • Perdido Key • Ponce de Leon Springs • St. Andrews • Three Rivers Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites Cedar Key Museum • Constitution Convention Museum • Forest Capital Museum • John Gorrie State Museum • Ybor City Museum • The Barnacle • Bulow Plantation Ruins • Dade Battlefield • DeSoto Site • Dudley Farm • Fort Foster • Fort Mose • Fort Zachary Taylor • Gamble Plantation • Indian Key • Koreshan • Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead • Natural Bridge Battlefield • Olustee Battlefield • Orman House • Paynes Creek • San Marcos de Apalache • Yellow Bluff Fort • Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins • Crystal River • Lake Jackson Mounds • Letchworth Mounds • Madira Bickel Mound • Mound Key • San Pedro Underwater Preserves and reserves Anclote Key • Cedar Key Scrub • Charlotte Harbor • Crystal River • Estero Bay • Fakahatchee Strand • Kissimmee Prairie • Lower Wekiva River • Paynes Prairie • Pumpkin Hill Creek • River Rise • Rock Springs Run • San Felasco Hammock • Savannas • Seabranch • St. Lucie Inlet • St. Sebastian River • Tarkiln Bayou • Topsail Hill • Tosohatchee • Waccasassa Bay • Yellow River Marsh Trails Gainesville-Hawthorne • General James A. Van Fleet • Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail • Withlacoochee State Forests Belmore • Big Shoals Public Lands • Blackwater River • Carl Duval Moore • Cary • Cottage Hill • Deep Creek • Etoniah Creek • Four Creeks • Goethe • Holopaw • Jennings • John Bethea • Lake George • Lake Talquin • Lake Wales Ridge • Little-Big Econ • Matanzas • Myakka • Okaloacoochee Slough • Picayune Strand • Pine Log • Point Washington • Ralph E. Simmons Memorial • Ross Prairie • Seminole • Tate's Hell • Tiger Bay • Twin Rivers • Wakulla • Watson Island • Welaka • Withlacoochee Florida Department of Environmental Protection