Myakka River State Park

Friday we spent time at Myakka River State Park which is just a few minutes drive east of our house. It's one of the oldest and largest state parks in Florida - founded in 1930 and over 37,000 acres. Whenever I drive east, I drive for a long time through the park, with it on both sides of the road. Inside of the park is Lake Myakka from which the Myakka River flows south. 

The park was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian last year. It took 3 months before it was reopened - and the famous Canopy Walkway was closed for several more months while parts were under reconstruction. 

We really enjoyed the Canopy Walkway and will definitely be back. At its tallest point, you are 75 feet up in the air and can see miles around in all directions. 

 

Then we took a walk on the small nature trail (mile loop) nearby. It was super super muddy and you could see still a lot of the scarring from last year's storm with downed trees. 

We drove back to Lake Myakka just to check things out. They have bike and kayak rentals here as well as a boat tour. Lots of big birds and we saw two big gators. The largest gators live near the sink hole (Deep Hole, 135 feet) on a different part of the lake. 

And on the way out of the park we came across several deer including this buck. 

It was a really nice day and we'll definitely be back to explore more and bring the boys.