Pasco County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2010 census, the population was 464,697. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest city is New Port Richey. The county is named after Samuel Pasco.
New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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 Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a 402,000‑acre (1,627 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Counties of Georgia, and Baker County in Florida, United States. The refuge is administered from offices in Folkston, Georgia. The refuge was established in 1937 to protect a majority of the 438,000 acre (1,772 km2) Okefenokee Swamp. The name "Okefenokee" is a Native American word meaning "trembling earth."
The Florida Trail is one of eleven National Scenic Trails in the United States. It currently runs 1,000 miles (1,600 km), with 300 miles (480 km) planned, from Big Cypress National Preserve to Fort Pickens at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola Beach. Also known as the Florida National Scenic Trail, the Florida Trail provides permanent non-motorized recreation opportunity for hiking and other compatible activities and is within an hour of most Floridians. The Florida National Scenic Trail is designated as a National Scenic Trail by the National Trails System Act of 1968.
The Withlacoochee River originates in central Florida's Green Swamp, east of Polk City. It flows west, then north, and then turns northwest and finally west again before it empties 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 to the north.
The Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks are a group of 19 metropolitan parks in and around Columbus, Ohio. They are officially organized into the Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District. The Metro Parks system was organized in 1945 under Ohio Revised Code Section 1545 as a separate political division of the state of Ohio. The Metro Parks are overseen by a Board of Park Commissioners consisting of three citizens appointed to three-year terms without compensation by the Judge of the Probate Court of Franklin County, Ohio. The Board in turn appoints an Executive Director responsible for operations and management of the parks.
Eagle Point Park encompasses 15 acres (61,000 m2) of a 600-acre (2.4 km2) coastal nature preserve in Pasco County, Florida west of US 19 and includes trails, a canoe and kayak launch dock, playground equipment, three fishing piers, and picnic shelters. It opened in 2010 after six years in planning and construction following the property's being purchased in order to forestall development. Pasco Palms Preserve is adjacent to the park.
The Black Hammock Wilderness Area is a 700-acre (2.8 km2) joint purchase between Seminole County, Florida and the St. Johns River Water Management District. It was acquired as part of a comprehensive effort to preserve significant habitat along the shores of Lake Jesup. This particular area also helps protect important recharge areas for the Geneva Bubble. Additionally, the wetland habitats of this property filter water on its way to Lake Jesup
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.
Cypress Creek Preserve is a 7,400 acres (3,000 ha) park in Pasco County, Florida at 8720 Pump Station Road in Land o' Lakes, Florida. According to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) the land was purchased to provide flood protection and as a public water supply. The park includes several trails covering 12 miles (19 km). Habitats include cypress and hardwood forests as well as slash pine, longleaf pine and palmetto in Florida flatwoods. Cypress Creek, a tributary of the Hillsborough River runs through the property. Butterflies, woodpeckers, wild pigs, deer, pigmy rattle snakes armadillo, gopher tortoise and several species of bird reside in the park. It is surrounded by a road and grazing lands in an area rapidly populating with suburban housing developments. The park can be accessed along Parkway Boulevard.
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.
Deer Prairie Creek Preserve is a 6,439-acre (26.06 km2) natural area with 70 miles (110 km) of trail in unincorporated Sarasota County, Florida, USA, around six miles along the Myakka River. The land was acquired between 2000 and 2004 through a partnership between Sarasota County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP) and the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). The northern entrance is located at 7001 Forbes Trail and the south entrance at 10201 South Tamiami Trail.
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.
Jumping Gully Preserve is an area of protected land in Spring Hill, Florida. The 598 acres (242 ha) are located north of SR 52 and west of U.S. Highway 41 at 18812 Fishburne Drive, northeast of the Crews Lake Wilderness Area. Prescribed burns are used to maintain the property. Access is by scheduled appointment.
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.
Mattair Springs is a natural spring and 1,188-acre preserve in northeastern Suwannee County, Florida. It is managed by the Suwannee River Water Management District. The property includes upland mixed forest, pine plantations, and sandhills. The sandhill areas are undergoing restoration. Camp Branch is a 200-acre tract nearby. It includes slope forest, xeric hammock, upland mixed forest, bottom land forest and sandhill habitats. Wildlife in the area include gopher tortoise, Suwannee cooter, deer, turkey, and squirrel. Hooded pitcher plants and cedar elm are also present. The Florida Trail passes through the area.
The Little Withlacoochee River is a 16-mile long river with its headwaters starting in the Richloam Wildlife Management Area in Sumter County, Florida. The Little Withlacoochee River ends near River Junction Campground just east of Silver Lake in the Croom Wildlife Management Area. It makes up a portion of the Hernando-Sumter County border. Its drainage basin covers 145 mi² (376 km²) of Hernando County and Sumter County.
