Barron Collier's name is well known in this part of Florida. Collier earned his fortune in the trolley car advertising business. He had to foresight to see the economic opportunities involved with opening up the west coast of Florida and he invested heavily into building a highway that cut through the Everglades and ran from coast to coast in south Florida. 1920 he owned a million acres of land in this area. When Barron Collier died in March 1939, he was Florida's largest landowner. Part of his holdings included a rare stand of native royal palm trees that he reserved. The land was originally supposed to be a National Park but the federal government wasn't interested so the state of Florida stepped in and created a state park in 1947. The Seminole in the parks name reflects that before Collier owned the land it was the home of the Seminole Indians. There is a memorial to Barron Collier in the park.
At the entrance to the park is a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, the last existing Bay City Walking Dredge built in 1924. This large piece of equipment has historical significance. It is a walking dredge that was used to dig the Tamiami Canal in the 1920's. The 60 foot long machine would scoop the land between it's legs and then walk along before scooping again. The material was then placed next to the canal to form a road. The machine operated 6 days a week for ten hours a day. This road opened up the west coast of Florida to travelers. In May of 2013 the Bay City Walking Dredge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The park includes of 6,430 acres of mangrove swamp, cypress swamps, salt marshes, mangrove river estuaries, and pine flatwoods. Park amenities includes two nature trails, the .9 mile Royal Palm Hammock Trail and the 6 mile Collier-Seminole Trail. The Collier-Seminole trail requires wading through swamp water and you have to check in at the ranger station to get the combination for the gate. There are primitive camp sites on this trail. There is an an interpretive center located in a cypress log block house which was the type used by white settlers during the Second Seminole War. You can embark on 3.5 miles of hiking and biking trails or rent a canoe for the Blackwater River which originates in the park and travels several miles through the mangroves to Blackwater Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands, This park has a boat ramp, guided boat tours, and a campground. There is so much to do here and park admission is only $5.
The .9 mile Royal Palm Hammock Trail is located adjacent to the picnic area. Part of the trail is natural earth and part is boardwalk. The trail starts out in a tropical and temperate hardwoods and then transitions into habitats that lead to the mangrove fringe along the edge of Florida Bay before ending at a platform overlooking a salt marsh. Along this trail are large royal palms, Jamaican dogwoods, and gumbo limbo trees. You may see the colorful and endangered liguus tree snails climbing up the smooth bark of tropical trees. Bears and panthers pass through the hammock. Birds you may see here include red-shouldered hawks, white-crowned pigeon, cardinal, yellow-rumped warbler, black-throated blue warbler and the Swallow-tailed kite.
This is a great park to get out and enjoy nature while safely social distancing. There is a lot of history here and it is a wonderful place to hike, bike, boat, camp, picnic, and nature watch. Here is the latest message from the park service. "Out of an abundance of caution, all events, activities, special event reservations, pavilion rentals and camping/cabin reservations at Florida State Parks have been canceled for the next 60 days. Most Florida State Parks remain open for day use; however, hours of operation have been reduced to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m" read more