Parks for Everyone

Get Outside and Explore Our Welcoming Parks and Preserves

The region has a wealth of these restorative spaces to enjoy, no matter your passion. Here are 10 to explore.

12/01/2025 By Kendall Southworth

Wild and Scenic History

Decades Ago, Visionary Sarasota County Commissioners Saw the Value of Protecting the Myakka

Their efforts led to the adoption of Florida’s Myakka River Wild and Scenic Designation and Preservation Act.

07/24/2025 By Susan Burrns

Creature Encounters

All the Wildlife You'll Spot on the Myakka River

You'll see alligators, for sure—but also fish, turtles, river otters, manatees, bobcats, deer and raccoons.

07/17/2025 By Miri Hardy

Wild and Scenic

Kayaking the Myakka River

Our Gulf beaches are world famous, but Sarasota has another great body of water—the Myakka, celebrating its 40th anniversary as Florida’s only “Wild and Scenic River.”

07/10/2025 By John McCarthy

Outdoor Adventures

It's Election Day. Let's Go Take a Hike.

Stop refreshing your social media feeds and recharge in nature at Oscar Scherer State Park or Myakka River State Park.

11/05/2024 By Allison Forsyth

Q & A

Friends of Myakka River Executive Director Miri Hardy on the Future of Myakka River State Park

"We want to find new, meaningful ways of engaging people."

03/11/2024 By Stephanie Churn Lubow

Take a Hike

Myakka State Park Plans Updates to Encourage Backcountry Exploration

A financial donation from Athletic Brewing Company will blaze a trail that will allow safer backcountry wayfinding for hikers, including trailhead kiosks and trail markers.

12/20/2023 By Sarah Owens/Community News Collaborative

48 Hours in Sarasota

The Dog Lover's Guide to a Long Weekend in Sarasota

We’re a dog lover’s destination, with plenty of pet-friendly accommodations and eateries that will keep you and your furry friend busy.

11/06/2023 Photography by Cooper Levey-Baker

Flashback

Myakka River State Park, Circa 1950

One of the first protected lands in our area, the park opened in 1942.

05/18/2023 By Bethany Ritz

A Whole New World

10 Neighborhoods Where Everything Is Changing

From new roundabouts and a downtown condo boom to expansive sprawl and new McMansions, our region’s profile is in flux.

03/03/2023 By Kim Doleatto

Conservation

Sarasota County Purchased a Portion of Myakka River Lands for Conservation

Last month, the county acquired 25 acres of environmentally sensitive land along the Myakka River, to preserve in perpetuity.

01/18/2023 By Kim Doleatto

Conservation

Conservation Foundation’s Myakka Headwaters Preserve Grows by 69 Acres

The newly conserved land is adjacent to the existing 363-acre Myakka Headwaters Preserve—conserved in October 2020—where seven streams converge to create the Myakka River.

12/12/2022 By Staff

Keeping Heads Above Water

Hurricane Ian Put Triangle Ranch Underwater

Ranchers wait for the water to recede before they can put the land back in working order.

10/10/2022 By Isaac Eger

Conservation

Community Collaboration Permanently Protects 191 Acres in Sarasota County

The property is a birding hotspot, and a portion of the land is part of the largest floodplain marsh in the Myakka River basin, called Tatum Sawgrass Marsh.

09/02/2022 By Staff