Fish hawk preserve north is definitely better then fish hawk preserve south. Have to be a little…read morecareful on the trail though for rocks and roots of trees. I enjoyed the trail and was happy to see butterflies as well as a turtle/tortoise. Also you have to pay a 2$ entrance fee upon arriving at fish hawk preserve north. It's nice because it's in the same area as Lithia springs.

Nice wide trails that two people can walk side by side. Dog friendly so bring your canine, but…read moredon't forget a leash. Not much shade and very sandy so make sure to bring some water. My favorite part is the pine tree area near the pond. The pine tree needles lay on the ground and when the wind blows the sound is melodic blowing through the pine trees. There is one picnic table to sit on for a picnic, but try and ignore the graffiti. There is an area that's preserved and protected for Burrowing owls. I wish I could have seen one or two, but no luck this time. There is traffic noise and watch for what looks like a homeless individual who had ridden a bike in.

Beautiful preserve. Great for natures walks and photos! Follow me on TikTok: MariaSocialsCoread more

I sweared i wrote an update review about my last visit. O_o im going crazy. Lol just wanted to add…read morea heads up. The last hurricane that beat our nuts off changed the landscape of the park a bit. Theres alot of trees and branches blocking the rivers but no problem. I did noticed that the asphalt is cracked and chunks are missing in some areas. I don't recommend a skateboard or roller blades without gear. It will be fine in some sections and then you'll see the damage show up in some sections. Totally safe for runners and bicycles. I went with my temporary wheel chair n i had a couple sections that i chose to walk it by. If you have like a pro chair with air wheels? You'll be ok. The wooded areas a bit slippery, although theres shade everywhere? This is the wrong season to ho there at the moment. It is freaking hot and humid even in the shade. Please bring a cooler with you. Local shops sell backpack coolers or even a small sling one is enough. There are fountains and bathroom every few miles though so no fear if you are fit or don't have disabilities. Bring a freaking camera theres tons of fish in the river that can be seen from the crystal clear water and you'll even see tortoises just walking around the property. Its totally ok to look at them. The only time i have intervened is when they walk into the parking lot or road and i just pray they don't pee on me. It is illegal to even do that but i rather risk a ticket over a dead turtle. Please me careful driving to either side of the parking lot cuz they even cross the main road and i have stop traffic to move em. I like dashing in this area cuz i can either stop here for nap on cooler days or if im lucky? Stop at ricks meat down the road. Its a local butcher, they also make these massive sandwiches at great price and they tend to have a bbq truck outside too. The parking? Is hella small n its always packed. Parking is self serve, they upgraded from the "hope" system to a booth. As in "i hope people are paying for parking" now its 100% you have to pay n put the ticket on the dashboard or else the tortoises will take your car away. Lol The lid park looked well kept, the first come first serve shelters look good too. They big enough to throw a party. They have their own water faucets and grill. The water access has like a tub, i am presuming its so your dog drinks water from it. I recommend you use a bowl though. Never know who uses those for other things. I also noticed theres more sitting areas. Theres a couple hidden spots that look safe to look closer i would be a bit cautious cuz i was stepping over a dirt bridge n then when i looked at it at another angle i was shocked that it was just roots. O_o like theres a ton of areas that got torn up by the last hurricane that hit us. Gators? Never seen them but its Florida i don't recommend going in the water unless using boat ramp. Boat ramp, when i was there, the water level was way too low and i didn't feel safe to go down the steep ramp. I was too exhausted for my walk i didn't trust i had the energy to climb out. Usually u can see the water from the top all i saw was grass. Sound, near the over pass is loud from cars but cool area for kickass pictures. The rest of the park is windy with nice river sound. Especially in the wooden loop. Its the closest it gets to the river. It is very beautiful how you can see bass and trout just swimming by. Space is tight it has a parking area for chairs and bikes. Plenty of places to sit and two shelters to nap. If you are an audiophile / AMSR sensitive like me? This is the area to just sit n record n let the beautiful sounds take you away. I think i recorded like a solid hour of just stereo ambience. I think i covered everything. Thanks for reading and please stay hydrated!

Great park with paved pathways & a raised boardwalk. Map at location and different map online made…read morenavigating difficult as far as where the raised boardwalk side was. Would've been nice for a sign at entrance to paths. Scens and views were great. Need sign explaining the orange water. No sounds of birds in our 90 minutes there. No gators, no turtles. Guy on cart driving around but not saying hello or checking in. Never found bathrooms. Parking is a reasonable $2. Some beautiful play equipment and an exercise court of assistive equipment for working out. Boardwalk beginning to sound rickety! Hope they check it regularly. Would be nice if a few plants/trees were labeled/classified. Eg. are the purple berries edible?? Love this park.

Good spot for the kiddos to play. I didn't do much besides talk to my friend while her children…read moreplayed. Not sure what else there is to do there. Well there is camping ,trails and things like that.

There are many trails, most of them have a good shade. I went to hike, some hiking trails are…read moreshared with biking trails so you have to pay attention. I wish the trails were marked better to make it easier to new comers. We didn't get lost but it was not clear where a hiking trail ends to become a hiking+biking one. Watch out.

We decided to do some hiking as the weather was so beautiful! This trail leds you to an old metal…read morebridge where the tannic water lazily flows beneath you. Stop and gaze at the moss covered oak trees and listen to the birds chirping in the underbrush. Continue down the trail that goes from sun to shade with a canopy of gnarled oak limbs covering parts of your way. There are lots of flowers in bloom right now from small white and purple ones on the ground to yellow ones covering the trees, and even some small white ones which reminded me of blooming cherry trees! No cherry trees here but definitely a lot of orange trees. Some people stopped to pick one and then realized these aren't the sweet kind, but sour oranges! It was very funny listening to their reactions after they tasted it! Don't forget to look around for wildlife as you never know what you'll see. I saw a gopher tortoise, a rabbit and a slithering black snake! There are also signs of an older Florida where mining was once prevalent. A large rock pile sits in an open field and more cement pieces can be found scattered in the nearby wooded areas. I hope you to will enjoy your adventure here.

Finally got there early enough to snag some tickets to swim in the spring. We got there right…read morearound 9 o'clock and to my surprise it wasn't too busy. Right around 11am is when it really started to pick up. They sell tickets in sections. We got the 9am to 1pm pass. They also have a 2pm to 6pm pass. The water was cold as usual but pretty clear this visit we were able to see lots of fish and some were even nibbling on our feet if we stayed still. There were lifeguards out watching the area and was very on top of people not bringing pool floats on the separate side where the spring was. Definitely recommend checking this one out before summers over.

Very rude staff. We understand that rules must be followed, but there are respectful and…read moreprofessional ways to communicate with people without being rude. We had a small dog with us at our campsite, and he briefly walked over to the campsite next to us. A staff member approached us and told us that if our dog was not kept on a leash, he would ask us to leave. We understand the rule and had no issue complying with it, but the way he spoke to us was unnecessarily rude and disrespectful. I am an IR nurse, and I always treat my patients with compassion and respect. Imagine if this staff member arrived at the IR department in pain or with an injury and was treated with the same level of rudeness. Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness, dignity, and respect.

Sandy paths in full sun. Some shady parts which are pretty with large oaks. Part of the trail is…read morealong a fence line. Only one trail to walk in all of the 1500 plus acres! Wish we could have seen more of nature and hiked more. There is a basketball court and some exercise stations , but they are in full sun.

Small park but it's cute and walkable. Have a basketball court and some exercise stuff you can use,…read moreas well as a picnic table. Some of the trails are a little grassier than others. Nice for a casual walk. Didn't see any cool wildlife though.

This park is beautiful! It is one of the most fun parks that I have been to since moving here…read more The trails are all so lovely and picturesque! The views, lakes, springs, trees, and vines are all just so beautiful. You can spend a whole day walking all of these beautiful trails! If you are a photographer looking for a great photo shoot, then this would be the place!

Was here last week. Totally forgot to catalog my first Catfish! It's crazy how many years i cone…read morehere n never catch one. Always come home with like bluegills n a random tilapia. You can see the catfish all over the lake just swimming by your bait n just testing you lol there's a crap ton of them near the pier but you gotta be careful cuz there's tons of alligators there to. I pulled out a nice size Catfish n then lost my second one to a damn alligator! Im happy the line broke cuz if i had lost my Shakespeare rod to i would've been more pissed! I got lucky n the couple nearby gave their bluegills. Went home happy with 1 catfish n 4 bluegills. Shared tips n bait store locations with a family camping there to. I wish the park entrance dude sold worms. It would be extra money for the park. I kept the catfish for a couple days in my aquarium, but he wouldn't take to it. I fillet his ass with the other fish. Doing fish tacos later. I used night crawlers from bass pro n sprayed them with-garlic sent to amplify the smell. I will try my homemade punch bait next tome. I found something tasty for them. Oh yeah, i caught some ghost shrimps in a cup but let them go. They look like glass at first then they moved around nicely. They are at grass edge, i do not recommend you get close to the edge!! Use a fishing rod n tie a water bottle or cup at the end with bait in it. I use catfish punch. Please don't let your pets get near the edge either. Gattor follow u when you are near water. Keep track of your kids!