Caloosahatchee Regional Park, Lee County, Florida

[GoatLockerGuns]

This park is truly a Sabal pametto paradise.  I know, there are plenty of parks in Florida with wild Sabal palmetto forests; however, there is something about the way nature presents itself here that keeps me coming back.  These pictures were taken on Christmas Day of 2020.  I have also seen Roystonea regia and Serenoa repens growing in the park as well.

[PalmatierMeg]

Wonderful habitat photos of a nearby park I have never visited. Will have to remedy that one winter in the future. I live in Cape Coral near the Gulf. This park is in far eastern Lee County, I believe. The County has been acquiring acreage to set aside/restore as native parkland. I worked for 17 years at a Mitigation Bank on Little Pine Island where invasive vegetation was removed and hydrology corrected to restore the island to its native state.

[GoatLockerGuns]

12 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Wonderful habitat photos of a nearby park I have never visited. Will have to remedy that one winter in the future. I live in Cape Coral near the Gulf. This park is in far eastern Lee County, I believe. The County has been acquiring acreage to set aside/restore as native parkland. I worked for 17 years at a Mitigation Bank on Little Pine Island where invasive vegetation was removed and hydrology corrected to restore the island to its native state.

Some other parks around Lee/Collier Counties that I really like, and palms I have seen there:

4 Mile Cove Ecological Park - Roystonea, Sabal, Washingtonia (non-native), Phoenix (non-native), Cocos, Thrinax

Randall Research Center (Pine Island) - Roystonea, Sabal

Matlacha County Park - Adonidia (non-native), Washingtonia (non-native), Sabal, Roystonea, Wodyetia (non-native)

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - Sabal, Serenoa

Hickey Creek Mitigation Park - Sabal, Serenoa

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve - Sabal

Collier-Seminole State Park - Sabal, Roystonea

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park - Sabal, Roystonea

[PalmatierMeg]

@GoatLockerGuns, next time you are in the area, check out Little Pine Island Wetland Mitigation Bank. It's the 6400 acre island my company helped clear/restore to its native state. It's located on its own island between Matlacha and Pine Island. There is a shell rock parking lot on the right side of the road about 1.5 miles west of Matlacha. My former office trailer sits inside a fenced compound but as far as I know is still abandoned unless FDEP has done something with it. On the west side of the parking lot you can enter through a gap in the fence and walk the paths into the island. Out of sight to the north is a large pond where herons, egrets, ibis, wood storks and other wading birds gather to feed and roost morning and evening. You can also cross Pine Island Road to the south side and hike. No motorized vehicles are allowed beyond the parking lot and there are no "facilities".

Native palms include Sabal palmetto and Serenoa repens. The island also hosts red, white and black mangroves. The State of FL owns the whole island and has taken back administration from my company. There is a trust funded in perpetuity for maintaining LPI in its restored native state as a park. I tell people it's nature in the rough.

Finally, if you ever go down to the riverfront in downtown Ft. Myers, there is a block-square palm park established off Edwards Dr in 1955 that has old, established palms as well as newer additions. I've gotten seeds off of many of them: Arenga pinnata, Arenga engleri, Roystonea regia, Syagrus xcostae, Licuala spinosa, Dypsis decaryi, Elaeis guineensis, Hyphaene theibaca, a Copernicia or two and other spp I can't recall. Small but neat little palm park.

[GoatLockerGuns]

@PalmatierMeg, I will have to check out those spots!  Is this the Fort Myers park you were referring to: https://www.cityftmyers.com/Facilities/Facility/Details/Park-of-Palms-32

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, GoatLockerGuns said:

@PalmatierMeg, I will have to check out those spots!  Is this the Fort Myers park you were referring to: https://www.cityftmyers.com/Facilities/Facility/Details/Park-of-Palms-32

That's it. There is also a newer palm park nearby off Martin Luther King Blvd by the Railroad Museum. It has the two Sabal palmetto Lisas that were rescued from an I75 exit about 10 years ago. They are well known among Sabal lovers. The park is worth the visit for those alone.

[PalmatierMeg]

@GoatLockerGuns, I found this link with info about the Little Pine Island hiking trail.

https://floridahikes.com/little-pine-island-high-marsh-trail

 

PS: LPI is 4,600 ac, not 6400.

[donalt]

common sabals don't get the credit they deserve; in a forest like that, they are especially beautiful!