There are 175 award-winning Florida state parks, trails and historic sites.

Exploring our State Parks:

(photo: Florida Division of Recreation and Parks)

Welcome to the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, "the Amazon of North America." The Fakahatchee Strand is a linear swamp forest, approximately twenty miles long by five miles wide and oriented from north to south. It has been sculpted by the movement of water for thousands of years and clean fresh water is the key to its existence. Beneath a protective canopy of bald cypress trees flows a slow moving, shallow river or slough that is warmer than the ambient temperature in the winter and cooler in the summer. The buffering effect of the slough and the deeper lakes that punctuate it shield the forest interior from extreme cold temperatures and this fosters a high level of rare and endangered tropical plant species.

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is the largest state park in Florida and is home to a variety of plant and animal species that can be found nowhere else in the continental United States.  The emphasis at Fakahatchee is on the preservation of its natural character.  In keeping with this goal, facilities and activities are limited, but allow the visitor a wilderness to enjoy and explore.  The park can be divided into four main use areas.  These are the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, the East River, the Jones Grade lakes, and Janes Memorial Scenic Drive.

(source:  Florida Division of Recreation and Parks)

Hurricane season is June 1-November 30

(radar loop, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Hurricane Michael making landfall as a Cat 5 storm, Oct. 10, 2018.

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Native Species Spotlight

American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)

(photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are a shy and reclusive species. They live in coastal areas throughout the Caribbean, and occur at the northern end of their range in south Florida. They live in brackish or saltwater areas, and can be found in ponds, coves, and creeks in mangrove swamps. They are occasionally being encountered inland in freshwater areas of the SE Florida coast as a result of the extensive canal system.

The American crocodile inhabits brackish or saltwater areas and can be found in ponds, coves, and creeks in mangrove swamps.  American crocodiles occur in South Florida and also can be found in Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, along the Caribbean coast from southern Mexico to Venezuela, and along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Peru. The northern end of the crocodile’s range is in South Florida.  Occasionally, crocodiles are encountered inland in freshwater areas along the southern Florida coast

  (source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

The 2019 Regular Session ran from March 5-May 4.  Find out what your Florida State Legislators worked on in Tallahassee: