Myakka River State Park

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An artist at a craft fair turned us on to Myakka River State Park. How could we have missed this gem on previous visits to Sarasota? It's Florida's largest state park and it abounds with wild life. We enjoyed the drive to the boat landing, took a great one hour boat tour with an interesting and well informed Captain/Narrator, took a tram ride through primal tropical forest, enjoyed a "bird walk" out into Myakka Lake," and ended up with a short hike to a set of canopy towers transversed by a hanging "jungle" bridge that brought us into the trees and above them. The park offers camping, has bike, kayack and canoe rentals; equestrian trails (horses for hire at a nearby ranch), a nice gift shop, and a concession that has alligator stew on the menu. We saw dozens of alligator, exotic turtles, lots of birds, feral pigs (brought to Florida by Ponce de Leon in the 1500s), learned about interesting trees and plants; and had a great day. There is more to Florida than the beach!

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Photos

Wes on the Myakka Canopy Bridge
This is more substantial than, but was designed by the same woman who designed the canopy at Selby Gardens in Saratos.

Jungle Bridge
Looking up from the ground.

Jungle Bridge
This was from the tower looking down upon the jungle bridge. The woman with red hair crossing the bridge blends right in.

Bird Walk
This "dock" - pictured from the middle toward shore goes far into Myakka Lake. We saw eagles, osprey, heron, and other birds. A few feral pigs grazed near the near shore and a few alligators basked "dreaming of piglet" on the far shore.

Watch Your Back
It's a good thing wading birds have wings. Gators are very fast and will eat anything that moves; and a few things that don't.