With its highlight an observation tower providing you a sweeping view of Boca Ciega Bay, Boca Ciega Millenium Park is a popular family-friendly getaway in Pinellas County with a gentle boardwalk and footpath showcasing the succession of coastal habitats from mangroves to pine flatwoods through coastal strand and maritime forest.
It’s always breezy here, and dog-friendly too, with a dog park on site. There is fantastic birding along the boardwalk, plenty of picnic pavilions, a playground, a canoe launch, fishing along the shoreline, and a paved bicycle trail paralleling the entrance road, passing wetland areas.
Resources
[HG]
Boca Ciega Millenium Park website
Overview
Location: Seminole
Length: 1.3 miles
Lat-Long: 27.832033, -82.810600
Type: loop
Fees / Permits: free
Difficulty: easy
Bug factor: moderate
Restroom: yes, but may be closed on weekdays
Directions
From US 19 in Pinellas Park, follow Park Blvd (CR 694) west into Seminole, crossing US 19A. Continue west to 74th Ave N (Old Oakhurst Rd) and turn left. Turn left on 125th St; the park entrance is on the right. Continue along the park road to the parking area for Shelter 3 & 4. The boardwalk starts behind the restrooms.
Hike
If you follow the boardwalk to the T intersection and turn left, you can walk down to an overlook over a small pond encompassed by large pines. Return along the boardwalk. As it rises up into the mangrove marshes, you’ll reach the observation tower after 0.3 mile. Climb to the top and look out over Boca Ciega Bay to the barrier islands. The boardwalk continues along the mangroves then loops back into the maritime hammock on the return trip, ending after 0.8 mile. If you keep to the right at the fork, you’ll return to the correct parking area.
The half-mile nature trail, the Fox Run Trail, starts in front of picnic pavilion 2 and loops through the pine flatwoods. Since the bridges are broken, it looks to be abandoned and you must hop across the creek twice to follow the posts with white arrows that mark the loop.
Updates from the FNST Symposium
