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The Nature Coast is an informal, unofficial region of the U.S. state of Florida. The broadest definition of the Nature Coast includes the eight counties that abut the Gulf of Mexico along the Big Bend Coast defined by geologists: from west to east, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco counties. The name "Nature Coast" was originally devised as part of a marketing campaign to promote tourism in Levy, Citrus, Hernando, and parts of Marion and Pasco counties.
Big Talbot Island State Park is a state park in Florida, United States. It is located on Big Talbot Island, a coastal barrier island 20 miles east of downtown Jacksonville on A1A North and immediately north of Little Talbot Island State Park along the Atlantic coastal plain.
Lake Louisa State Park is a 4,372-acre (17.69 km2) Florida State Park located south of Clermont, in the northeast corner of the Green Swamp and the southwestern shore of Lake Louisa. It is made up of bald cypress, live oak, and saw palmettos. In addition to Lake Louisa, the park contains Hammond Lake, Dixie Lake, Dude Lake, and Bear Lake, along with several smaller lakes.
Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park is a Florida state park located in Pasco County, Florida near Port Richey, Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico on the Atlantic coastal plain. An entrance to this park is at the intersection of Scenic Drive and Cinema Drive, one mile west of the intersection of Cinema Drive/Ridge Manor Blvd. and U.S. Highway 19. The park is named, in part, for a 320 feet deep saltwater spring in the park, which is not yet easily accessible. The park includes four miles of Pasco County's coastal waters on the Gulf of Mexico.
The Withlacoochee River or Crooked River is a river in central Florida, in the United States. It originates in the Green Swamp, east of Polk City, flowing west, then north, then northwest and finally west again before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico near Yankeetown. The river is 141 miles (227 km) long and has a drainage basin of 1,170 square miles (3,000 km2). It is believed to have been named after the Withlacoochee River in the northern part of the state, near the border with Georgia.
In 1999, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in St. Johns and Flagler counties, Florida as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) system. The GTM Research Reserve represents the east Florida sub-region of the Carolinian bioregion. It is one of 30 NERRs in 23 states and one territory. GTM is one of three NERRs in Florida and is administered on behalf of the state by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Florida Coastal Office as part of a network that includes forty-one aquatic preserves, three NERRs, a National Marine Sanctuary, the Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council. Additional interests are held in the research and management of the GTM and connected preserved or conserved lands including:
The Forest Preserve District of Will County was created by referendum on July 25, 1927, to preserve open spaces in Will County, Illinois, US. The first land acquisition was in 1930. As of December 2010, the District owns or manages 21,916 acres (8,869 ha) of land. Current Will County board members make up a board of commissioners, which oversees the affairs of the Forest Preserve District.
Crews Lake Wilderness Park is located off Shady Hills Road in Pasco County, Florida. The park includes hiking trails, a short paved bike trail, playground, wooden tower, athletic fields, and the 7+1⁄2 in gauge Central Pasco & Gulf Railroad. Rides on the miniature railroad are offered the second Saturday of every month. The lake is the source for the Pithlachascotee River. Jumping Gully Preserve is adjacent to the park.
Starkey Wilderness Preserve is a public recreation and nature conservation area located in Pasco County, Florida. The park includes a system of hiking, bicycling, and equestrian trails, cabins and primitive camping sites, and picnic areas. It is named after Jay B. Starkey, a cattle rancher who bought the property in 1937 and later donated hundreds of acres. The Preserve consists of three tracts: the Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, managed by Pasco County, and Serenova Tract and the Anclote River Ranch Tract, managed by Southwest Florida Water Management District. The area includes sections of pine flatwoods, cypress domes, freshwater marshes, stream and lake swamps, sandhill and scrub over a combined 8,500-acre (34 km2) "wetland ecosystem spread throughout approximately 18,000 acres of conservation lands". The park is located in Western Pasco County east of New Port Richey. The park includes the Starkey Trail, an approximately 6.7 mile paved multi-use trail that links up with the Suncoast Trail at its eastern terminus. There are also unimproved trails in the park. An 8-mile mountain bike trail was approved and being developed as of 2013.
Conner Preserve is a natural area in central Pasco County, Florida preserved for water management since 2003. The landscape includes steep sandhill ridges, marshes, cypress sloughs and pine flatwoods and is "part of a wildlife habitat corridor envisioned by Pasco County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District that will eventually connect the Starkey Wilderness Preserve to the Cypress Creek Preserve, making a continuous corridor of several thousands of acres in this region." It is used recreationally for bicycling, horseback riding, hiking, camping, and model airplane flying. The park is located at 22500 on State Road 52 in Land o' Lakes, Florida. It is 2,980 acres (12.1 km2) and open from sunrise to sunset.
Jenkins Creek Park is a 3-acre (12,000 m2) park that includes "natural freshwater springs, man-made canals, coastal marshes, uplands, and waterways leading to the Gulf of Mexico" as well as a boat launch for small boats or canoes, a fishing pier, grill, picnic tables, and restrooms. It is located in Hernando Beach in Hernando County, Florida, although Hernando County Parks Department gives the address as being in Spring Hill. Across the street is Linda Pedersen Park, a 135-acre (0.55 km2) park connected by an aluminum boardwalk to Jenkins Creek Park. It is used for fishing and has a forty-foot-high observation tower offering "a panoramic view of the marsh and look out over the Gulf of Mexico." It also includes a playground and is in an area frequented by manatees. The park has grills, picnic tables, a pavilion, swimming area, playground, community building, showers, and restrooms.
The Imperial River is a river in southwest Florida in the United States. It is fed by the Kehl Canal and marshland at 26°22′16″N81°41′23″W, just east of the city limits of Bonita Springs in unincorporated southwest Lee County. It is approximately 9.3 miles (15.0 km) long, from its headwaters just east of I-75 in the Flint Pen Strand, through downtown Bonita Springs and to its mouth at the north end of Fishtrap Bay, near the southern end of Estero Bay. It was originally named Surveyors Creek before the city was developed. The river is part of The Great Calusa Blueway.
Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve is a 110,000 acre preserve in the four-corner area of Lake County, Pasco County, Polk County and Sumter County, east of Dade City, Florida. It includes a 36-mile section of the Withlacoochee River and offers hiking trails. It is managed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. It includes various habitats and is home to a wide array of wildlife. The preserve is divided into five areas: 5,067 acre Colt Creek State Park, the 51,149 acre East Tract; the 11,052 acre Hampton Tract; the 4,446 acre Little Withlacoochee Tract; and the 37,350 acre West Tract.
The Tree Hill Nature Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and wilderness preserve in Jacksonville, Florida, organized for the purpose of providing an educational experience for visitors to appreciate and learn about the natural environment in Jacksonville. The land was acquired to preserve and protect an urban wilderness area containing sensitive plants and animals from surrounding development. The city park opened in 1971.
Lake Rogers Park is a 272-acre (110 ha) park and preserve with a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) trail in Odessa, Florida.
Pasco Palms Preserve is an area of protected lands in the Beacon Square section of New Port Richey in Pasco County, Florida. It is located adjacent to Eagle Point Park to the west of U.S. Highway 19 North at 4466 Strauber Memorial Highway. The 116-acre preserve offers hiking and is open from sunup to sundown. It was acquired in 2009 and includes habitat for bird species, including the white ibis and snowy egret. It fronts on the Gulf of Mexico and includes nature trail with "wetlands, salt marshes, mixed hardwood pine forests, mangrove swamps and tidal flats," according to the Pasco County website Pasco County Environmental Lands Department holds events there, as does Pasco's EcoFest.
Upper Pithlachascotee River Preserve, also referred to as Upper Cotee Preserve, is a 129-acre area of protected land in Pasco County, Florida. It includes 69 acres of bottomland forest by the Pithlachascotee River and the Ryals Branch, a tributary that crosses the site. The park includes a Cypress tree believed to be between 200 and 300 years old, a specimen listed in the Historic Places of Pasco County. It was the first property purchased through the Pasco County's ELAMP program with funding from the "penny for Pasco" sales tax. It includes sandhill habitat, upland mixed forest and freshwater marshes. The Upper Cotee Preserve is located at 17135 Minneola Drive and includes a nature center, boardwalk and hiking trail. The area provides habitat for deer, wild turkey, gopher tortoises, barred owl, red-shouldered hawks, the Florida mouse, gopher frog, little blue heron and snowy egret.
Cypress Creek Preserve is a 255-acre (103 ha) area of protected land in Wesley Chapel, Pasco County, Florida. It is between Interstate 75 and State Road 56 to the north at 23999 County Line Road. Visits are by scheduled appointment. The lands include cypress and hardwood forests. They were acquired in 2010 and protect parts of Cypress Creek, a tributary of the Hillsborough River.
Lemon Bay is a long, narrow and shallow body of water covering 8,000 acres in Charlotte County, Florida and Sarasota County, Florida. It is protected as the Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve, designated in 1986. It is one of five Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves. The bay is fed by one Gulf pass, Stump Pass, and seven tributaries and includes areas of mangrove, marsh grass, and seagrass. It provides habitat for bird, invertebrate and fish species and offers fishing, kayaking, birding, wading and beachcombing opportunities.
Clam Bayou is a 170-acre estuary between Gulfport, Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida, and Boca Ciega Bay. The neighborhood around the estuary is also known as Clam Bayou. The area is popular with kayakers. It is also home to the 10-acre Clam Bayou Nature Park that includes a canoe and kayak launch point.
References
- ↑ Carl Orth Pasco's Eagle Point Park opens to public Archived 2011-06-02 at the Wayback Machine ; Nature is nestled at the scenic, coastal park with kayak launch, trails and fishing piers April 27, 2010 The Suncoast News
- ↑ Eagle Point Park Archived 2010-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Pasco County, Florida website