Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve at 1101 Country Club Way South. Founded in 1943 a 245-acre preserve in downtown St. Petersburg. The park was named after Boyd Hill, the first superintendent of the park.

 

 

 

 

A knowledgeable docent took us on a 1-1/2 hour tram tour throughout the preserve. We walked across a bridge and saw a young alligator lift his head in Lake Maggiore. Passed a Gopher Tortoise along the way. They live on land and build burrows that are used by sixty varied species of animals.

Pick up a trail map before walking along the trails. On display along the trail an Armadillo Sculpture made of metal parts created by Paul Eppling who lived in St. Petersburg. The aviary is the permanent home of the distinct species of birds that can’t be rehabbed because of a permanent injury to their wings.

 

 

 

 

After walking the eight miles of trails step inside the Lake Maggiore Environmental Center and explore the different habitats on display. Lake Maggiore a 300-acre lake, Uplands, ten species of turtles, and wetlands.

Pick up numerous brochures while in the environmental educational center on how to save varied species, Natural History Speaker Series, and Wild Florida Series.

I recommend the preserve and education center, so many activities for people to enjoy. Admission prices and hours of operation on the website. Tram rides are offered on Saturday at 10 and 1 pm and on Sunday at 1 pm.

Brooker Creek Preserve & Environmental Education Center

 

 

 

 

Walk along the Education Center Trail a wooden boardwalk to Brooker Creek Preserve & Environmental Education Center at 3940 Keystone Road in Tarpon Springs. Hiking the four trails will take you through pine flatwoods, oak hammocks, and cypress domes.

The narrator in the film in the educational center describes the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to Florida 12,000 years ago. The Native American tribes-built sand and shell mounds made from oysters and shells. The arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors in the 1500s brought cows and pigs. Cypress Timber Trees used in logging a profitable industry in the early part of the 20^th century. Turpentine camps in Tarpon Springs prevalent from 1890 until the early 1920s. The sap and resin from the pine trees distilled to make turpentine.

Take a stroll on the Education Center Trail, sit on a bench under a gazebo, relax while feeling the breeze or sit on a picnic table under a tree while having a picnic. Host plants for caterpillars, nectar plants for butterflies found in the wildflower garden along the trail.

 

 

 

 

Inside the education center explore the supersize burrow exhibit. The protected Gopher Tortoise an endangered animal shares the burrow with 360 animals. Varied species of taxidermy mounted animals exhibited as well as species of snakes.

Alligators essential to our ecosystem. Read the facts about the alligator and how to stay safe if encountering one. This alligator deemed to be a nuisance and destroyed.

Blank note cards, children’s books, t-shirts, and assorted items found in gift shops. I recommend the preserve and education center so much to see and do. Free admission, donations accepted. Hours of operation on the website.

Weeden Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center

Weeden Island Preserve listed on the National Register of Historic Places at 1800 Weeden Drive NE in St. Petersburg. Walk along 4.7 miles of trails and admire the foliage and observe the different species of wildlife.

 

Envision the daily lives of early Native American mound-building tribes who lived on Weeden Island thousands of years ago. Tribes traded with other tribes in surrounding areas as shown on the map.

Archeologists uncovered bones of prehistoric animals, shells used to make different tools, stone tools used for hunting, and weapons on display. Pottery used for cooking, storing, and ceremonies. A dugout canoe made of pine unearthed used for fishing, family trips, and trading.

Inside the cultural center dioramas chronicle the planting, harvesting of food that connect the different ecosystems. Weeden Island named after Dr. Leslie W. Weeden who studied Yellow Fever. Dr. Weeden spent summers on the island in the mid-1880s.

Rent a kayak/canoe or paddleboard. Paddle on the 4-mile paddling trail. Bring your own fishing gear and fish on the 200-foot fishing pier.

Visit the gift shop and browse books on Florida State Parks, Birds, and Weeden Island. Vases made of tin, and the usual items found in gift shops. I recommend the nature preserve, cultural, and natural history center. Free entrance, hours of operation on the website.

Princess Place Preserve

 

 

 

 

Princess Place Preserve at 2500 Princess Place Road in Palm Coast. Drive along a two-lane dirt road crossing a covered bridge stopping for horses along the road. Bring a fishing pole and fish on the dock or relax on a bench. Bring a pair of binoculars on a clear day you can see the bridge that crosses to A1A and see Marineland. Hike one of the four trails or canoe on Pellicer Creek that flows into Matanzas Inlet. Sit under a canopy of trees, have a picnic, feel the breeze while overlooking the water.

 

 

 

 

In the late 1880s, a hunting lodge built on the 1500-acre property. The lodge, the servants’ quarters that is now the park ranger’s office, livery stable, bathhouse and the first in-ground swimming pool all adjacent buildings. The pool table in the main hall include photographs of Princess Scherbatow, the owner of two famous guests at the lodge. Going from room to room, the park ranger gave a thorough account of each room from donated pieces to family-owned pieces. Original Hard Pine floors to a fireplace with original tiles and mirrors.

Cedar Trees, Palm Trees, Vines, and the Southern Magnolia named for Pierre Magnol a French Botanist. Free entrance to the park, hours of operation on the website. Free tours of the lodge; I recommend the tour; the park ranger is knowledgeable.

Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve

Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve at 8777 C.R. 535/Winter Garden-Vineland Road in Windermere. The Vera Carter Environmental Center in the preserve named after Vera Carter, an Orange County Commissioner instrumental in preserving the environment.

 

 

 

 

Interactive Exhibits inside the center include a lit-up map that highlights the eleven lakes that make up the Butler Chain of Lakes. A lightning exhibit that shows the effects of lightning in the cypress dome in the dry season. A Green Horned Owl found in the Wild Wetlands of North and South America, a Great Egret, Red Shouldered Hawk, and a Snapping Turtle exhibited.

 

 

 

 

Walk on the sandy trail that surrounds the flower and butterfly gardens. Sit on a bench and relax in the peaceful surroundings. Listen to the song of the Tufted Titmouse, a small gray songbird. Birdfeeders in the garden attract varied species of birds. The employee working in the garden said that the two tortoises come out of the burrows any time of day. A Blue Porterweed a perennial that attracts butterflies and the fruits of the host plant a Purple Passionflower/Vine eaten by the Gopher Tortoise.

Hike one of the six trails from a one-half mile to more than a mile. When entering the preserve stop for animals at the crossing. Entrance to the preserve is free, hours of operation on the website.