Myakka River State Park near Sarasota is one of the largest and oldest of Florida’s state parks. And it’s well worth visiting. The Myakka River flows through the park which contains wetlands, prairies, and woodlands. We bicycled on the roads (about 15 miles) to see the park and go to the areas we wanted to visit.
We took the Tram Safari tour which told about the early settlers in the area and how the land had changed, Interestingly, we learned that Mrs. Potter Palmer (Palmer House Hotel in Chicago) donated the original land for the park, though additional land was purchased later. In addition to the tram tour, an airboat tour offers a scenic cruise of the Upper Myakka Lake.
We enjoyed seeing wildlife in the park, mainly birds and alligators.
There is a Bird Walk platform extending into the wetlands that offers a great place for birding. It’s a popular spot in the park, especially in the morning. We saw white pelicans, wood storks, osprey, sand hill cranes, great white egrets, anhingas, and other birds.
The Myakka Canopy Walkway provides easy access to observe life in the treetops of an oak/palm hammock. Completed in 2000, it was the first public treetop trail in North America. The walkway is suspended 25 feet above the ground and extends 100 feet through the hammock canopy.
A tower at one end soars 74 feet in the air to present a spectacular view of tree tops and the surrounding area.
Though the park has three campgrounds, we drove there from our RV park in Venice for the day. Myakka River SP is a great park to visit – for a day or longer.
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