It was meant to be a national park, set aside by developer Barron Collier during his push to create the Tamiami Trail across the Everglades.
The Federal government wasn’t interested, so the state of Florida stepped in and created Collier-Seminole State Park, which opened in 1947.
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Overview
Location: Naples
Trailhead: 25.992111,-81.589968
Address: 20200 Tamiami Trail E, Naples
Fees: $4-5 per vehicle
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 239-394-3397
Open 8 AM until sunset daily. Leashed pets welcome.
Bring insect repellent and consider a headnet. Mosquitoes are fierce all times of year.
Directions
From Interstate 75, take exit 101, Naples / Marco Island. Drive south on CR 951 for 7.1 miles to US 41. Turn left to continue east 8.5 miles to the park entrance on the right, past the turnoff to Marco Island at Royal Palm Hammock. From the east, the Collier-Seminole State Park entrance is 15.5 miles west of the FL 29 / US 41 junction north of Everglades City.
About the Park
When Barron Collier died in March 1939, he was Florida’s largest landowner.
The state had paid him in vast tracts of land for making good on his promise to drain Southwest Florida for development while building the Tamiami Trail.
In addition to viewing the Bay City Walking Dredge, one of the original dredges used by Collier’s workers to build the highway, and several other historic features, this park is about the wilderness.
Launch your canoe or kayak for a paddling trip, or put in your boat for a ride down the mangrove-lined Blackwater River. Camp out in a pleasant tropical campground, ride your mountain bike on a 3.5-mile loop.
Blackwater River boat basin and launchWalk softly through a tropical hammock and look carefully in the trees for colorful tropical liguus tree snails on the Royal Palm Hammock Trail.
This short interpretive loop is largely boardwalk, extending through a salt marsh and mangrove forest to the very edge of the Everglades.
Overlook on the EvergladesOr go for a hard-core 6.5 mile swamp-slogging backcountry trek through the wilds of the Big Cypress Swamp, with a dry spot for camping.
The rugged Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail was built in the 70s by the Florida Trail Association.
Pine forest on the Collier-Seminole Hiking TrailAn intermediate excursion delves deeply into a stunning selection of habitats along the 3.5 mile Prairie Hammock Trail, which is open to cyclists as well as hikers.
Marl prairie (Chris Stevens)No matter whether you’re camped out in the campground or hanging out by the boat basin, the symphony of mosquitoes at this particular state park is one of the loudest, especially at dawn and dusk.
Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail A wet and wild 6.5-mile loop into the watery wilderness of the Big Cypress Swamp, the Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail provides a challenging wade into beauty.
Collier-Seminole Prairie Hammock Trail A parade of habitats awaits in a lesser-visited corner of Collier-Seminole State Park on this multiuse loop utilizing portions of the Old Marco Road built in the early 1900s.
Royal Palm Hammock Nature Trail Not quite a mile long, this intriguing nature trail explores a gradient of habitats from tropical hammock to salt marsh and mangrove forest.Trail Map
Explore More!
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