Sleeping Turtles Preserve South – Florida Hikes

Alongside the Myakka River instantly south of Interstate 75, Sleeping Turtles Protect South protects 212 acres of uplands and wetlands.

Sitting east of River Street and its burgeoning subdivisions, it’s one among a sequence of preserves devoted to buffering the river’s floodplain.

Pathway by way of the pine flatwoods

It doesn’t deal with the river basin. As an alternative, its essential 1.4 mile loop circles a 20 acre lake, a former quarry.

The lake seems pure now, however was dug almost fifty years in the past when limestone was mined for the roadbed of the interstate.

Considered one of many views of the lake

Whereas the path community extends as spokes off the principle loop and features a southerly loop, the most effective hike on its path system is to circle the lake.

Trails radiate by way of pine flatwoods and hammocks, however none attain the Myakka River.

Palm hammock edging the floodplain

Sources

Overview

Location: VeniceLength: 1.4 milesTrailhead: 27.106340, -82.346021Address: 2800 River Rd, VeniceFees: FreeRestroom: On the trailheadLand Supervisor: Sarasota CountyPhone: 941-861-5000

Open 6 AM to sundown. No canine permitted. Sheltered picnic tables are offered close to the lake.

Though there are not any posted restrictions on bikes and equestrians look like permitted, there’s an entry stile making it tough for both to enter.

No kiosk was in place once we visited and the map field was empty. If not for printing a map earlier than our go to, it might’ve been tough to puzzle out a route. A further loop lies south of this one.

We took this higher loop clockwise, however counterclockwise will get you to the picnic tables immediately.

Instructions

Hike

Stroll by way of the zigzag of the stile to enter the protect. Head due south down a broad grassy hall parallel to River Rd however throughout the forest.

In a tenth of a mile, a grassy junction at Marker 8 has a path to the left and a slender two-track straight forward in direction of a picnic shelter.

Approaching the loop junction

Unsurprising in mild of the alligator warning signal, blue water shimmers simply past the timber.

Flip left to start a clockwise loop, skimming near the water’s edge, revealed as palm fronds rustle within the breeze.

Broad path alongside the north shore of the lake

The broad grassy path hugs near the lake in a scrim of hardwood hammock on the rim of the pine flatwoods.

Minor glimpses of the water’s expanse by way of the vegetation lastly resolve to a panorama framed by Virginia willows at 1 / 4 mile.

First clear glimpse of the lake

Nudging into the pine flatwoods, the path is accompanied with an ever-increasing soundtrack of visitors because it approaches the north boundary of the protect.

Nearing Interstate 75, the north finish of the lake is shallower, an enormous willow marsh behind a display screen of timber on its bluff.

A willow marsh looms behind the timber

Stroll by way of a palm hammock at a half mile, rising underneath the tall pines. Flip east onto a slender two-track paralleling the interstate.

Enter a lush hardwood hammock canopied by stay oaks. A marker at a grassy crossroad confirms this route.

Lush hammock

A stand of cabbage palms yields to the wiggly types of sand stay oaks above a thicket of noticed palmetto.

Cross a second grassy street, a service street on the north finish of the protect, at 0.7 miles. Interstate visitors zips previous instantly north.

Sand stay oaks

Cross Marker 5, the footpath narrowing and edging near the willow marsh at a culvert. Curving south, move a grassy observe leaving this cover of forest.

At this closest level to the Myakka River floodplain, there could also be soggy spots within the path.

Marker 5

Pines rise tall above a thick understory past this rim of hardwoods alongside the lake. Attain a bench sheltered underneath the timber.

At 0.9 miles, pause for the view over open water. Past the bench, the breadth of the lake turns into seen by way of a skinny understory.

Bench with a view

Carpeted in pine needles, the pathway stays nice and largely shaded because it circles the lake.

A low bluff presents a broad view of the water, the far shore outlined by tall pines.

View north throughout the lake

Merging into the linear path on the west facet of the protect at Marker 9 at 1.1 miles, flip proper.

This well-worn two-track approaches the picnic shelters, assembly a bench first. It sits at one other splendid overlook on the lakeshore.

Bench close to the picnic tables

Previous two picnic shelters is a gap to the water’s edge. This closing take a look at the lake exposes the sheer dimension of it, its marshy northern extent now apparent on the far shore.

Closing the loop on the junction with the alligator warning signal, proceed straight north up the broad grassy hall, reaching the trailhead at 1.4 miles.

The distant break is the place the marshes lie

Path Map

Discover Extra!

Video

Mountaineering Sleeping Turtles South

Slideshow

See our photographs from Sleeping Turtles South

Close by Adventures

Path Map (PDF) Official Web site

Writer of over 40 books, Sandra Pal established FloridaHikes.com in 2006 to increase on the sector analysis she’d accomplished for her first six mountain climbing guides. She has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Florida Path Affiliation and the Florida Outside Writers Affiliation.

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