Yankeetown Hurrah!

I had some conversations with a few Florida County Parks Departments about Boardwalks in parks, and the locations of wilderness preserves or nature parks in their county. Lake County sent me a huge packet of trail information, some of it from statewide programs that were not theirs. They were very encouraging in their response, and sent me the packet priority mail, at nearly $5 expense... Great service!

Another county sent me a note saying they don't have any nature trails, preserves, or boardwalks because (since the creation of the county, I guess) they don't have the funding for such things. The implication I took from the tone of their reply was that they though such things were frivolous. 

The Headwaters of the Withlacoochee River in the Green Swamp, viewed from Pasco County's Withlacoochee River Park.

While taking pictures of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, I drove through the tiny coastal village of Yankee Town. They had a nature center, observation tower, boardwalk and a Preserve. They got creative, search out grants, and built a beautiful public access preserve into the salt marshes where the Withlacoochee River meets the Gulf of Mexico.

At first, I thought it was just a gravel road along a powerline right-of-way. It is, but soon it meanders around some salt ponds, and then I found a boardwalk.

Not bad for a tiny hamlet. Nice open boardwalk with a kick railing. A few spots were recently repaired, so it gets regular maintenance

The boardwalk is less than a mile long. It loops around a Salt Pond and flanks a huge salt marsh that reminds me of a slough. At the end is a tiny marked sink hole in the Karst Limestone.

The land to the southeast of the boardwalk has a few freshwater springs, and the slash pine must be getting enough fresh water that the salt air does not retard them. They are green and growing strong.

The Nature Education Center is huge, and is undergoing renovations.

You can see the mangrove hammock islands in the salt marsh from the trail. You can see the Gulf from the observation tower. The Withlacoochee braids through the marsh as it heads toward the Gulf of Mexico.

"For the last word in procrastination, 

go travel with a river

 reluctant to lose his freedom in the sea."

 -Aldo Leopold A Sand County Almanac

So they got creative with financing, and they built this preserve. I wish every County had at least one. All I can add is....Hurrah! for Yankeetown. Their site doesn't mention the boardwalk, but you can see their site at:

http://yankeetownfl.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={5D4F5275-C404-4F83-8F1C-5216B4213117}&DE={795643E8-EE9D-4558-B978-312F581791F2}

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