Lakes Regional Park

Last updated
Lakes Park
Lakes Park entrance.JPG
TypeRegional (Lee County, Florida)
Location Fort Myers, Florida
Area279 acres (113 ha)
Created1984
Operated byLee County Department of Parks and Recreation
StatusOpen

Lakes Park (sometimes called Lakes Regional Park) is a 279-acre public park located along Gladiolus Drive (CR 865) just south of Fort Myers, Florida. It opened on April 21, 1984, and is operated by the Lee County Department of Parks and Recreation. The park was named after its main feature: 158 acres of man-made freshwater lakes. [1] The park is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail as well as Lee County's Tour de Parks bicycle route. [2]

Contents

Features

The Boardwalk over the lakes Lakes Regional Park 01.jpg
The Boardwalk over the lakes

The park includes about 2.5 miles of walking and biking trails running along the lakes. A scenic boardwalk carries the trails over the lakes. Other features include playgrounds, a large field for recreational activities, as well as a fragrance garden with herb, butterfly, and cactus gardens. A variety of wildlife can be spotted throughout Lakes Park, especially birds. [1]

Train Village

Train Village and loading platform for the miniature railroad Lakes Park Train Village 2021.jpg
Train Village and loading platform for the miniature railroad

A section in the middle of the park is known as the Train Village. The train village includes the Railroad Museum of South Florida, a full size historic locomotive and caboose on display, and a children's playground. [3]

The railroad museum also operates the Lakes Park & Gulf Railroad, a 7+1⁄2 in (190.5 mm) gauge [4] miniature railway which takes riders on a 15-minute ride through the north end of the park. The miniature railway has carried over 300,000 passengers since it opened in 1994. [5]

History

Recreational Field Lakes Park field.JPG
Recreational Field

Lakes Park opened on April 21, 1984. [6] The park was built on the site of a former rock mine that operated on the site from 1956 to the mid 1960s. The lakes within the park were created are man-made and were excavated during the operation of the mine. The mine was owned by the West Coast Rock Co. and it operated from 1956 to the mid 1960s.

In 1958, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built a spur from their line along the Ten Mile Canal to serve the mine. [7] The Atlantic Coast Line's rail spur, which ran along the present route of Six Mile Cypress Parkway, was built on the right of way of an earlier railroad branch built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (their Punta Rassa Subdivision). The Seaboard's track operated through the site from 1926 to 1952. The Train Village and Railroad Museum at the park are located just north of where the railroad previously existed and a historic plaque marks its location. [8]

Entrance to Fragrance Garden Lakes Park Fragrance garden.JPG
Entrance to Fragrance Garden


References

  1. 1 2 Lakes Regional Park
  2. ↑ "Tour de Parks Route" (PDF). Lee County Parks and Recreation. 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  3. ↑ The Railroad Museum of South Florida
  4. ↑ "Railroad Museum of South Florida Train Village website". Archived from the original on 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  5. ↑ County to Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Lakes Park
  6. ↑ Dunn, Michael (22 April 1984). "Lakes Park makes grand impression". The News-Press. pp. 1B, 3B . Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  7. ↑ "Rock operations bring $1,000,000 into county economy". The News-Press. 9 April 1958. p. 11. Retrieved 21 January 2026– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ History Plaque On ACL 143 and SAL Punta Rassa Spur
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