Eagle Lake Park celebrates the legacy of the Taylor family, with an 18-acre remnant of the citrus grove to walk through, picnic pavilions that look like pole barns, and an adorable playground with a citrus theme. Not all of their 163 acres were farmed, so there are natural habitats, including oak hammocks, lakes, and marshes. Old-growth longleaf pine towers over many of the trails. This is truly an urban forest. Although most of the trail system is paved, we acknowledge that urban residents are likely more comfortable on these familiar surfaces, which makes this a great destination for families with small children and people with limited mobility. This hike describes one of dozens of routes to take through the park’s extensive trail system.
Observation Platform along Eagle Lake
GETTING THERE
Eagle Lake Park sits between US 19A and US 19, immediately south of Clearwater, off Belleair Boulevard. From the junction of US 19 and FL 60 (Gulf to Bay Boulevard) in Clearwater, drive west 2 miles to Keene Road. Turn left. Continue south 2.1 miles, crossing Belleair Boulevard, to the park entrance on the right. Inside the park, turn left. Park near the dog park and restrooms.
THE HIKE
From the parking area, face the paved path and make a right. Follow it through the oak hammock. After you pass the main entrance of the park, turn left, meeting a boardwalk around a marshy slough. Turn left again to cross another slough flowing between the marshes. Tall longleaf pines—the reason Pinellas County has its name—rise above. This trail emerges on the outer loop, facing a forest of young longleaf pines. Turn right. Spiderwebs sparkle with dew as they stretch between the pine needles. Following the perimeter of the property, the trail works its way along a pond. A natural surface path comes in from the left.
A fork in the path at 0.5 mile is at the edge of a parking area. Continue straight, passing the parking area and its picnic pavilions with the old orange grove off in the distance. The trail jogs left, slipping around a half-fallen tree and the remnant of an old farm fence line. Passing a crosswalk to the right, where buildings from the Taylor farm sit at the edge of the grove, the path continues up to another crosswalk and to a T intersection. This starts the loop around Eagle Lake. Turn right. Make the first left at the PICNIC PAVILION 4 sign. This path leads to Pier 3, the first of several overlooks on Eagle Lake. Ironically, the signs say NO FISHING, despite this being called a pier. Only certain piers throughout the park may be used to cast a line.
Leaving Pier 3, follow the path around the lake. Spiderwort grows in colorful clusters in a shady spot along the edge of the trail. From the shade of an oak hammock past Picnic Pavilion 5, you see the playground, a fanciful fantasy of a citrus grove complete with a barn. The trail continues around the lake. Keep right, avoiding the trails that branch left, including one that leads to a neighborhood gate. As you emerge from the laurel oaks past Pier 2, the path crosses a small bridge over the outflow of Eagle Lake. Young cypresses have been planted along its banks. The bald eagle nest comes into view in a tall pine just outside the park boundary. Bald eagles build nests of incredible size, which require old-growth longleaf pines for support. There is no mistaking their nest for that of any other bird, since it stands 10 to 20 feet tall, a deep pocket of branches filling the crook of the tree. In springtime, the nest is busy with activity.
As you round the corner, Pier 4 comes into view. Fishing is allowed here. Stop for a moment. Lily pads of American lotuses fill the shallows. A coot fusses as it scurries through the grasses. On the paved path, you cross a sturdy steel bridge, perhaps built atop a frame from when tractors crossed this part of the grove. The bridge crosses a stream flowing into Eagle Lake, a stream so clear you can see fish darting in and out of the aquatic garden below.
After 1.6 miles, you complete the loop around Eagle Lake. Cross the crosswalk again, and make a left at the stop sign. Ramble along the edge of the parking area to where you can see the farmstead, including the historic home and barns. A gravel path leads into the citrus grove. In spring, some trees are laden with oranges, while others are full of fragrant blossoms.
Cross the park road to walk past Picnic Shelter 3 and Restrooms 2, and work your way down to Pier 2. This overlook is great for birding. There is always something going on, from red-winged blackbirds squawking to blue-winged teals cruising the open water. Follow the boardwalk around to the right between the series of ponds. Past the next pier, make a right, and you’re back at the first wetland area you encountered. Now a green heron is hiding in the branches of a wax myrtle. Popping out at the paved perimeter path, take a left this time. A thicket of terrible thistle tempts you over with its big purple blooms.
At 2.2 miles you reach a T intersection under the tall longleaf pines. Turn right. A boardwalk crosses reconstructed marshlands. The longleaf pines are quite old at this end of the park, with oaks making up the understory. This paved trail ends at a pedestrian exit at Rosary Road. Turn left on a crushed–shell path and follow it into the pines. Take the right fork at the Y intersection. In spring, the draping blooms of pawpaw catch your eye as the trail nears the southern boundary of the park. The trail follows the park boundary and the sound of traffic becomes noticeable. Although the park is surrounded by busy roads, there is so much birdsong in the air and so many views to delight the senses that you don’t really notice the traffic until you hit this corner, where you see cars rushing by to an intersection with Keene Road. Curving left again, the trail reaches a short boardwalk over a wetland area. Take a peek at the aquatic plants as you continue across a bridge flanked by willows. Lizard-tail grows in the shallows of this natural waterway.
At the next major pedestrian entrance to the park, the Keene Road entrance at 2.8 miles, turn left. A paved path crosses a bridge to the left. Continue straight, since you’re now within sight of the parking lot where you started your walk. Passing the dog park, you come up to Picnic Pavilion 1 and its adjoining restrooms, completing a 3-mile walk.
Wetlands at the southwest corner of Eagle Lake Park
OTHER HIKING OPTIONS
1. Wetlands Walk. The south end of the preserve is circled by footpaths showcasing the restored wetlands. Use the same trailhead as the route above but make a left. Turn right and cross a bridge into the woods. Turn left to leave the paved path to enjoy a sweeping view of the wetlands. Continue along the distinct footpath and take a left at the Y intersection. You’ll loop back around to the Keene Road side of the park. Keep left to cross the boardwalk over the wetlands outflow, and left again onto the paved path, which loops back to where you started for a 0.8-mile walk.
2. Central Birding Loop. Park near Picnic Shelter 3 (27.9335, -82.7655) and walk down to the boardwalk along the lake. Follow the boardwalk along the lake’s edge, and make a left at the T. Continue to the paved path and make a right. Make a right at the next paved path, and you arrive back at Shelter 3 on a 0.5-mile loop.
3. Eagle Lake Loop. Park near Picnic Shelter 5 (27.9357, -82.7680). Join the paved path in a clockwise loop around Eagle Lake, stopping at the piers along the way. This 0.8-mile loop is fully accessible.
4. Grove Trek. From the above parking area, walk past Shelter 4, visit the pier, and take the trail up to the paved path. Continue north and make the first right. Walk out along the connector to the Bellaire Road pedestrian entrance and return for a 1.5-mile hike.
5. Largo Central Park Nature Preserve (27.9127, -82.7746). A 31-acre nature preserve just off East Bay Drive, southeast of Eagle Lake Park, this urban birding location is part wetlands park, part natural floodplain forest. It’s looped by a paved trail and crisscrossed by boardwalks, offering more than a mile of hiking.
CAMPING AND LODGING
West Bay Oaks RV Park, 1610 W Bay Drive, Largo FL 33770 (727-586-2440, westbayoaks.com), no tents.
Hampton Inn & Suites Largo, 100 E Bay Drive, Largo FL 33770 (727-585-3333, hilton.com)
Holiday Inn Express, 210 Seminole Boulevard, Largo FL 33770 (727-581-3900, ihg.com)
Weedon Island Preserve
Total distance: 4.
6-mile round-trip along a network of trails.
Hiking time: 2–2.5 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Usage: Free. Open 7 AM to sunset daily, except Christmas and the day after Thanksgiving. Daily closing time is posted at the front gate. No pets or bicycles permitted.
Trailhead GPS Coordinates: 27.8476, -82.6080
Contact Information: Weedon Island Preserve, 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33702 (727-453-6500 or 727-582-2100, weedonislandpreserve.org)
For an immersion into the vast mangrove forests that line Tampa Bay, there is no better destination than Weedon Island Preserve. Protecting nearly 3,200 acres along the coast of Florida’s largest bay, the preserve is also a world-class birding destination, thanks to its unique perspective on these otherwise tricky-to-reach islands and coves along the shoreline: 178 species of birds, migratory and native, have been documented here. At the various observation platforms and open views across the estuary, you’re virtually guaranteed to see flocks of wading birds. What isn’t as obvious as you walk the boardwalks and trails is the deep cultural history of this peninsula. Access to the productive waters of the bay made this a place where prehistoric people settled. Archaeologists from the Smithsonian started delving into their secrets in 1923, finding middens, mounds for homes, and a burial mound. Within the past decade, a 40-foot-long dugout canoe was discovered, radiocarbon-dated to 690–1010 AD. But before Weedon Island became a preserve, the peninsula was ditched and dredged for mosquito control and pipelines, planted in orange groves, and even served as an airport.
Before you start your exploration of the preserve, visit the Cultural and Natural History Center. It’s open Thursday through Saturday, 9 AM–4 PM and Sunday, 11 AM–4 PM, closed on holidays. Inside, a timeline of the cultural history of Weedon Island compliments detailed information on the flora and fauna of the preserve, with hands-on exhibits that the kids will love. The trail system starts on the back side of the Cultural and Natural History Center, where there are restrooms. The trails are open even when the center is closed. Because mangroves equal mosquitoes, we strongly suggest you apply insect repellent. Take plenty of water with you, too. The trails alternate between sun and shade, but we found ourselves spending more time in the sun than we normally would when hiking thanks to the wildlife watching opportunities and the many scenic views.
GETTING THERE
From I-275 northbound from St. Petersburg or southbound from Tampa, take exit 28 for Gandy Boulevard (US 92) and head east for 2.7 miles, watching the signage, so you stay on the correct road. Turn right onto San Martin Boulevard just past Derby Lane, a large racing/poker facility. Drive a mile and watch for the GREAT FLORIDA BIRDING TRAIL sign pointing left. Continue briefly onto Ridgeway Drive before it becomes Weedon Drive. Drive 1.4 miles, passing a power plant entrance and a small parking area, before you come to the large parking area on the left at the Cultural and Natural History Center.
THE HIKE
The trail system begins behind the Cultural and Natural History Center, with the paved Upland Trail the primary connector between the boardwalk trails. Start by making a left on the Upland Trail to follow it through a pine forest with an understory of dwarf palmetto. After you pass a bench, the habitat transitions into scrubby flatwoods, with scrub oaks beneath the pines. Interpretive signs point out key features, such as fungus found in the preserve. Take a right at another paved trail 0.25 mile into the hike. It meets the Bay Boardwalk, which introduces you to the mangrove forest you’ll be traversing for much of the hike. Rounding a corner, it comes to an observation deck with a bench. This saltwater pond is a favorite fishing spot for osprey, which hover well overhead before diving feet first for the water to make their catch. The preserve trails are open to fishing, so don’t be surprised to see an angler casting a line, too.
View from the Bay Observation Platform
Tunneling deeper into the mangroves, the boardwalk circles the south side of the pond. Three types of mangroves grow throughout the preserve: black mangrove, white mangrove, and red mangrove. To tell them apart, compare their shapes. Red mangroves have a distinct network of prop roots that look like arches holding up the tree. Black mangroves are broader, surrounded by a network of short breathing roots called pneumatophores protruding from the soil under the plant. White mangroves look the most tree-like, with oval-shaped, light green leaves—the other mangroves have dark green, elliptical leaves. White mangroves tend to be farther from the water’s edge than the others.
When you reach a boardwalk, turn right. This spur ends at the Bay Observation Platform, where birders tend to flock, watching the flocks of birds. As tides drain Tampa Bay, seagrass and mudflats are exposed. This makes for easy pickings for wading birds, especially the roseate spoonbills, unmistakable thanks to their pink plumage. Notice how they use their unusually shaped bills for sifting through the mud to find a meal. We spotted some glossy ibis here along with the typical white ones, and juvenile ibis in shades of gray and white. They’re the wading birds with the curved beaks, once commonly known as curlew. Snowy egrets are especially showy when in their mating plumage. A white bird, they have a contrast of black beaks and yellow feet. Look for great egrets on the flats, too—they’re the tallest of the white birds in the distance.
Return along the spur to the main loop and turn right. The mangroves aren’t as tall in one spot, so you can see across their canopy, stretching to the blue horizon. There is nowhere else in the United States that mangroves grow other than Florida. When we were kids, they were found no farther north than Central Florida. Today, mangroves have taken root up past Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast and are found on one shore of Dog Island near Tallahassee. On the Atlantic Coast, we’ve found them spreading northward from St. Augustine. These island-building plants are common throughout equatorial regions worldwide.
When the Bay Boardwalk ends, it’s at a junction with the Upland Trail, which also ends at this spot, a picnic grove at 1.1 miles. Turn right at the BOY SCOUT LOOP sign to follow a sand footpath into the forest. From this point on, the trails are natural surfaces and may get wet or mucky in places, especially after a rain. Flanked by dwarf palmetto and cabbage palms, and shaded by oak trees, the sandy footpath winds through the upland forest. Marsh ferns densely cover a low spot. As the trail emerges into the open, the pines are much taller and there are clumps of saw palmetto. At the next sign, turn right to head to Lookout Point. This narrow pathway quickly becomes a berm that tunnels into the mangrove forest, with the mangroves providing deep shade. The pneumatophores of the black mangroves march right up to the edges of the footpath. Ditches parallel the berm; the roots of the red mangroves are a tangled puzzle along them. If you see a small black spot move, it’s a mangrove crab. These crabs use the roots and trunks of the mangroves like highways through the forest. Don’t be surprised to see a raccoon scurry across the path and vanish into the swamp. Raccoons are adept at fishing and tearing apart shellfish for their meals. Do stay alert, as the splotches of shade across the trail provide natural camouflage for creatures crossing the berm, including alligators.
You pass some pine trees before the straight line of this tunnel curves left. Through gaps between the mangrove roots, an open mudflat is visible, with wading birds browsing along it. Sunlight illuminates the sand underfoot as you draw closer to the end of this peninsula, Lookout Point. A picnic bench sits at the end of the trail. Depending on the tide, you might be able to ease your way through a gap between the red mangroves to the edge of Tampa Bay for a panorama stretching from the Gandy Bridge to MacDill Air Force Base.
Return the way you came, under the shade of the mangrove tunnel. It feels like a much quicker walk on the way back. When you reach the T intersection at 2 miles, turn right to start the Boy Scout Trail in earnest. This trail was established in 1984 by George Wysock, an avid volunteer with the Florida Trail Association Suncoast Chapter, at the request of the Florida Park Service. Weedon Island was a state park, and it was called the Weedon Island Trail at the tim
e. Management of the preserve was transferred to Pinellas County in 1999. You’ll pass a junction for the Boy Scout Trail as you walk through the pine flatwoods. Stay right at this fork. The trail is broad and sunny here, hemmed in by the understory of saw palmetto. A bench sits just before a bridge over a mangrove-lined waterway.
Mangrove tunnel along the Lookout Point Trail
With a slight elevation gain just past the bridge, the trail is canopied by an oak hammock, a pleasant tunnel in the shade. Red circles with arrows serve as trail markers, but the route through this forest is obvious. When you see marsh ferns and cabbage palms, you know the habitat is about to change. At an intersection, a spur trail leads to the right. It quickly emerges into an open, fern-filled clearing with stately cabbage palms. Keep going, and you find the treasure at the end of the trail, an island of tropical hammock with a picnic bench. Ancient oak trees shade this forest glen. Return to the main trail and turn right, crossing a bridge over a lazy waterway. At 2.3 miles, you’re back in the mangrove forest.
Shaded by the mangroves, the trail is slightly elevated above them on a berm. Open water shimmers through them, where a large expanse is a gathering spot for wading birds. There is no observation deck along this loop, but there are bridges, and a few locations have better views than others. When you cross a broader creek on a wooden bridge, notice it has a name painted on it: Lighter Knot. You may not have seen the names of the bridges up to this point since you’d need to look down. A succession of short bridges traverse little streams in the mangrove forest, joining the berms together into a hiking route. Stay right at the junction after the Palm Bridge to go around the short loop counter-clockwise. Keep following this small loop around, crossing the North Bridge next, and you’ll end up back at the Palm Bridge. You’ve hiked 2.8 miles.
50 Hikes in Central Florida Page 26
