Oscar scherer state park
The park has full-facility campsites and a youth/group campground. Picnic areas along South Creek are equipped with grills pavilions can be reserved for a fee. Anglers can fish along the shores of Lake Osprey, which is also the park´s swimming destination. Canoe and kayak rentals are available, but motorized boats are not permitted in the park boundaries.įreshwater and saltwater fishing are available along the creek. Canoeists and kayakers can paddle along South Creek, a blackwater stream that flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Fifteen miles of trails through these beautiful natural areas provide opportunities for hiking, bicycling, and wildlife viewing. One of the many Citizen Support Organizations (CSO) established by the state of Florida as a. The park protects scrubby and pine flatwoods that were once widespread throughout Sarasota County. Friends of Oscar Scherer Park, Inc., Osprey, FL. Get directions, find nearby businesses and places, and much more. 41, two miles south of Osprey and six miles south of Sarasota, Oscar Scherer State Park consists of more than two square miles of natural Florida landscape.Ī large acreage of scrubby flatwoods makes this park one of the best places to see Florida scrub-jays, a threatened species found only in Florida. Discover campgrounds like Oscar Scherer State Park Campground Florida, find information like reviews, photos, number of RV and tent sites, open seasons, rates, facilities, and activities. ^ "Oscar Scherer State Park is both a recreational park and a wildlife preserve".One nights camping fee deposit will be required (credit card only must be canceled within 24. Reservations may be made up to eleven months in advance. Campsites are available for tent or RV camping with complete hook-ups for electric and water.
OSCAR SCHERER STATE PARK FULL
"Let's Go for a Hike at Oscar Scherer State Park". Oscar Scherer State Park Full Facility Camping Oscar Scherer State Park is a Seasonal Camping Park. ^ "Trail Closings for Controlled Burn in Oscar Scherer State Park | Friends of The Legacy Trail".^ "Oscar Scherer State Park | Visit Sarasota"."Essential Info for Enjoying Oscar Scherer State Park". ^ "Lee Wetherington Companies Donates 16.31 Acres of Land to Oscar Scherer State Park"."Burrow's Legacy Included Oscar Scherer State Park". ^ "Living Sanibel: Oscar Scherer State Park".The Legacy Trail, which runs on a former railroad route, also runs through and connects with the park. It also has an interpretive exhibit and visitor center. The park has such amenities as beaches, bicycling, boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking, kayaking, picnicking, snorkeling, swimming and wildlife viewing. South Creek is brackish, so it can contain saltwater fish. The 3-acre (12,000 m 2) freshwater Lake Osprey has bream, bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish, among others. Other birds that can be seen in the park are bald eagles, ospreys, warblers, woodpeckers, egrets, and the great blue and little blue heron. This award will allow the Friends to request bids for construction on the first arm of the. The park is one of the few places in the state where there are enough scrubby flatwoods for the Florida scrub jay to maintain a healthy population. This grant was submitted by the Florida State Parks Foundation. Land and aquatic inhabitants include bobcats, rabbits, foxes, North American river otters, American alligators, eastern indigo snakes ( Drymarchon couperi), gopher tortoises and gopher frogs.
A variety of other plants exist within the park, like blueberry, persimmon, wild grape, cabbage palm, coontie, wax myrtle, prickly pear cacti, mangrove trees and giant leather ferns ( Acrostichum danaeifolium). The habitats that are part of the park are pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods and the hardwood hammock surrounding South Creek. In September 2008, in recognition of National Public Lands Day, Lee Wetherington, a local developer and long-time park supporter, donated an additional 16.6 acres (0.067 km 2) of land to the park, including the buffer property adjacent to the Willowbend subdivision (a Wetherington development), bringing the total park size to 1,400 acres (5.7 km 2). In 1992 this resulted in 922 acres (3.73 km 2) being added from the adjacent Palmer Ranch that had been among the holdings of Bertha Honoré Palmer, in large part due to the Nature Conservancy, public support, and the use of Preservation 2000 funds, expanding the park's size to 1,384 acres (5.60 km 2). Thirty years after that, realtor and environmentalist Jon Thaxton started work to protect the neighboring Florida scrub jay territory. A year later, the park was ready and opened to visitors. It was to be dedicated to the memory of her father, Oscar Scherer, who had, in 1872, developed a shoe leather dyeing process. Her will left the ranch to the state to form a park. The park's genesis was in 1955, when Elsa Scherer Burrows, owner of the 462-acre (1.87 km 2) South Creek Ranch, died.