A gem alongside Higher Tampa Bay, Security Harbor Waterfront Park has an excellent boardwalk by way of a mangrove forest alongside an pure shoreline.
It glides alongside hidden mud flats the place birds congregate and it offers expansive views of the bay.
Bayfront boardwalkA inexperienced ribbon alongside the waterfront downtown, this seven acre park additionally encompasses open grassy recreation areas and the Veteran’s Memorial Park and Marina.
The broad paved path by way of the park is the east finish of the Ream Wilson Path, connecting a string of parks throughout Clearwater to Cliff Stephens Park close to Moccasin Lake.
A waterfront stroll circles Veteran’s Memorial Park subsequent to the marinaAssets
Overview
Location: Security HarborLength: As much as 1.2 milesTrailhead: 27.989126, -82.686245Address: 105 Veteran’s Memorial Ln, Security HarborFees: FreeRestroom: On the trailheadLand Supervisor: Metropolis of Security HarborPhone: 727-724-1558
Open dawn to sundown. Leashed canine welcome; decide up after your pet.
Instructions
Hike
Start with the concrete path closest to the shoreline of Tampa Bay, which reaches a round plaza with picnic tables.
From it, guests have a transparent view of the bayfront and its tidal flats.
Close to a singular sculpture, a globe expressing the range of humanity with fingers, cabbage palms line the waterfront.
Sculpture alongside the waterfrontBlack mangroves have staked a recent foothold alongside the flats on the finish of a tiny seaside. Chunks of limestone edge a protected wetland space.
Past a bench going through a swath of white sand seaside, the boardwalk begins at 0.2 miles.
Starting of the boardwalkHovering above the bayfront vegetation at first, it sweeps previous a reasonably view of Higher Tampa Bay framed by crimson mangroves.
Turning in the direction of the mangrove forest, it’s an expanse of leafy inexperienced.
Higher Tampa BayComing to a spur boardwalk, take it out to the bayfront, the place it extends like a T over the tidal flats
An interpretive panel discusses what creatures dwell within the water. Gently rippled flats under are trammeled by the footprints of wading birds.
Boardwalk commentary deckThe bayside finish of this boardwalk has an commentary deck trying up alongside the waterfront you simply walked, the ruins of the Security Harbor pier standing out.
On the horizon, buildings in downtown Tampa rise within the hazy distance past a bridge on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.
View in the direction of downtown TampaStroll to the opposite finish of the T for an commentary deck going through the wooded shoreline of residential Security Harbor.
Ibis ply shallows in coves which replicate the sky like a mirror. The far shore is Oldsmar, pylons of transmission traces radiating from the ability plant.
Mud flats close to the shoreReturning to the primary boardwalk, flip proper. Zigzagging by way of the mangroves, attain a junction at 0.3 miles. Bear proper.
Taller mangroves present perches for birds scouting the bounty of this salty shoreline.
Heading alongside the waterfront to a different viewA mild curve results in a panorama of the Security Harbor coast and Higher Tampa Bay.
An interpretive panel discusses the shorebirds usually seen right here on the mud flats. Pockmarks within the tidal mud are the work of fish constructing nests.
Overlooking the flatsFlip away from the open water on a straightaway lined by crimson mangroves, hovering above a cove of mud flats.
Return to a mangrove tunnel. At 0.4 miles there’s a junction within the boardwalk. A boardwalk to the correct burrows deeper into the mangrove forest.
Low tide within the mangrove forestIt spans Mullet Creek to a walk-in entrance on the nook of North Bayshore Dr and Church St. As a result of hurricane injury, it was closed on our go to.
When that route reopens, it extends this stroll 0.2 miles by assembly the bike path. Return to Security Harbor Waterfront Park through the bike path.
Closed boardwalkIf it stays closed, take the boardwalk that isn’t. It descends from the mangrove forest as a gently sloping ramp.
Meet the bike path at a small plaza with a water station and bench and switch left. In both case, the water station is a landmark alongside your route.
Water station at bike pathObserve the bike path alongside the forested rim of the park. Fronting a small rock backyard, a marker recounts native historical past.
It explains the final recognized contact between the Spanish and the native Tocobaga. One in all their tall temple mounds is preserved inside close by Philippe Park.
Historic markerCurving in the direction of the open garden going through the waterfront, the trail reaches a junction with the boardwalk.
Making a left flip in entrance of a bench at a half mile, ascend one other phase of the boardwalk.
Bench at boardwalk junctionStroll between mangroves and peer down between them to see grassy flats and darkish, wealthy mud.
The wading birds of the protect are detailed at an interpretive cease. Jogging round a nook, meet the primary boardwalk at a T at 0.6 mile.
Among the many mangrovesFlip proper to return alongside the boardwalk previous its commentary spur and its sweep alongside the Tampa Bay waterfront.
When it ends in a tenth of a mile, observe the concrete stroll again in the direction of the parking space.
Return to the trail throughout the grassy gardenReaching the parking space, take a left previous what stays of the pier. Stick with the trail alongside the railing on the seawall, the place a staircase leads all the way down to the muck.
This walkway curves across the Veterans Memorial Marina Park, dominated by a big oak and a number of other sheltered picnic tables.
Seawall walkwayCount on to see many colourful pigeons resting, roosting, and strutting round within the shade.
In line with a neighborhood who raised his personal close by as a boy, these feral pigeons are descendants of racing pigeons bred by way of the Nineteen Sixties within the space.
Veterans Memorial ParkMost feral pigeons seen in cities are the multi-generational offspring of domesticated birds, educated for message carrying and racing.
Like deserted canine and cats, pigeons instinctively crave human consideration but have been unfairly branded as pests.
Deal with pigeons kindly, they aren’t afraid of individualsViews of the bayfront shoreline proceed till the seawall hooks round to the marina adjoining the park.
Return to the parking zone, finishing this mile circuit, 1.2 miles if the boardwalk to Church Avenue has reopened.
Parking space between the adjoining parksPath Map
Discover Extra!
Video
Mountaineering Security Harbor Waterfront Park
Slideshow
See our pictures from Security Harbor Waterfront Park
Close by Adventures
Official Web site
Writer of over 40 books, Sandra Good friend established FloridaHikes.com in 2006 to increase on the sector analysis she’d accomplished for her first six mountaineering guides. She has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Florida Path Affiliation and the Florida Outside Writers Affiliation.
