Myakka River Field Trip

Prior to 1850, the Myakka River was the Asternal River on English maps. A Seminole Indian reportedly told a surveyor in the 1850s that the name of the river was Myakka. Between the 1850s and the 1930s, cattle grazed on dry prairie, a vast land of grasses, forbs, palmetto and other low shrubs with thousands of scattered wetlands. In 1910 Bertha Palm built a ranch house (still stands on Ranch House Rd inside the park) and started a cattle ranch called Meadow Sweet Pastures putting in fences and dip vats. After her death in 1918, Florida purchased 17,000 acres of the Palmer estatte and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Myakka River State Park which opened in 1941 with visitor center, two picnic pavilions, five rental log cabins, roads and trails. Today the park has 37,000 acres with the majestic Myakka River flowing through 58 square miles of one of Florida's oldest and largest state parks. Flora and fauna abound with ebird reporting 256 species sightings.  Gather at the inside bridge where Sharon Wilcox will guide the tour.  $4 for single drivers & $6 for loaded cars. Carpools can be independently formed at the usual gathering and parking place in the Kings Hwy Wal-Mart parking lot across from Culver’s (385 Kings Hwy) off I-75, Exit 170.