Along a slender peninsula on Snead Island between the Manatee River, the Gulf of Mexico, and Tampa Bay, Emerson Point has attracted visitors for millennia.
Today, you can scramble up enormous mounds built by an ancient civilization. Climb to the top of an observation tower and see the Sunshine Skyway bridge on Tampa Bay.
An observation tower tops the tallest moundIn ancient times, the mingling of fresh and salt water meant a fabulous fishing ground and a place to gather shellfish and salt. Those who once lived here made use of that bounty.
Now, visitors can enjoy paddling and fishing along these same shores and explore a scenic trail system connecting the mounds and the coastline.
Atop a riverside mound in the Portavant Mound ComplexResources
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Overview
Location: Palmetto
Length: Up to 6.8 miles
Trailhead: 27.531673, -82.628290
Address: 5801 17th Street W, Palmetto
Fees: Free
Restroom: At the nature center. Portalet at Emerson Point.
Land manager: Manatee County
Phone: 941-748-4501
Open sunrise to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome. Prepare for mosquitoes, which can be intense certain times of year. Cyclists welcome on most trails. Restrictions are posted.
Directions
From Interstate 275 south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, exit onto US 19. Drive south into Palmetto. Turn right onto SW 10th St. After 2.5 miles, cross a small bridge onto Snead Island. At the sign for the preserve, turn right on Tarpon Rd, then left at the stop sign. Follow the road as it narrows and enters the park gates. The main parking area for the Portavant Mound and Nature Center is the first left. The next parking areas on the right provide access to the North & South Trails and the Terra Ceia Trail. At the very end of the park road is a lot adjoining Point Replica Mound and the trailhead for the Beach Walk Trail.
About the Park
Long and linear, Emerson Point Preserve has so many high points your destination depends on your interest. Fishing? Head to the end of the road to the point to wade into Tampa Bay.
Biking? A paved path parallels the park road for most of its length, and the North and South Trails make easy circuits off it to create loops.
Picnic grounds at the nature centerPicnic grounds adjoin a nature center complex used for enviromental education, where a butterfly garden flourishes in the shade of massive live oaks.
Paddlers can explore both the exterior and interior of the preserve with launch points into the Manatee River, Tampa Bay, and into a central lagoon along the Terra Ceia Trail.
Landing at an observation deck on Terra Ceia BayOne of the main reasons to visit Emerson Point Preserve is the Portavant Mound complex. Buried beneath an ancient tropical forest, it is a collection of intentionally built mounds.
Although impacted by a home being built atop the broadest mound in the 1800s, the mound remains impressive in size and height.
Ramp to the top of the Portavant MoundAt the tip of Emerson Point, climb Point Replica Mound to take in the view of the unique waterscape the mound-builders saw from their creations.
The civilization that created them also built mounds across the Manatee River at what is now De Soto National Memorial and across Terra Ceia Bay on Terra Ceia.
Emerson PointHiking
A network of five named trails allows you to make loops of various lengths along the eastern side of the preserve, home to its driest land and multiple mounds.
A 0.9 mile loop on the hiking-only Portavant Mound Trail explores the tangled tropical hammocks swarming the mound complex along the Manatee River.
Emerson Point Portavant Mound Trail Delve deeply into Florida's past by exploring an ancient complex of mounds fronting the Manatee River at Emerson Point Preserve. From the same parking area, the South Trail and North Trail are open to hikers and cyclists and can be put together to make a 2 mile loop, or used for access other trails.
Emerson Point North and South Trails A winding ribbon of crushed limestone snakes through tropical hammocks and along wetlands and mangrove forests to explore the interior of Emerson Point Preserve.The 0.4 mile Tower Trail begins with a showy boardwalk across an interior lagoon before circling an exceptionally tall mound topped with an observation tower.
Emerson Point Tower Trail Discover a unique perspective of Terra Ceia and Tampa Bay from an observation tower crowning a mound purposely built in the mangrove swamps by an ancient civilization.A boardwalk extension on its north side leads to the Terra Ceia Trail, a linear 1.2 mile hiking-only trail tunneling through the bayfront mangrove forest.
It has numerous overlooks on the bay. It also connects to the North and South Trails, enabling a large loop along the perimeter of the trail system.
Emerson Point Terra Ceia Trail An immersion in mangrove forest and numerous overlooks on Terra Ceia Bay elevates the rugged Terra Ceia Trail to the best of the hikes at Emerson Point Preserve.At the very tip of Emerson Point, the Beach Walk Trail is a 0.7 mile round-trip physical challenge in the mangroves edging Tampa Bay.
Emerson Point Beach Walk Trail Pick a path through a tangle of mangrove roots on this wild shoreline where Terra Ceia Bay and the Manatee River mingle their waters at Tampa Bay. The short Point Replica Mound Trail adjoins it, climbing a mound created for the sake of scenic views across the expanse of Tampa Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.
Peering through mature mangroves on the Beach Walk TrailBiking
Both the North and South Trails are open to cyclists, comprising a 2 mile loop. A paved bike path parallels the park road starting from the same trailhead, extending to Emerson Point.
Paved bike pathPaddling
Paddlers can launch from the beach at Emerson Point and have long carried kayaks to the shoreline adjoining the picnic pavilion along the Manatee River near the mounds.
To ply the interior mangrove channels, a launch adjoins the Terra Ceia Trail with an adjacent trailhead for both trails.
The launch point adjacent to the Terra Ceia TrailTrail Map
Dark Blue: Tower Trail. Green: Terra Ceia Trail. Yellow: Beach Trail.
Explore More!
Video
A walk through the trails of Emerson Point Preserve
Slideshow
See our photos from Emerson Point Preserve
Nearby Adventures
De Soto National Memorial Interpreting the landing of Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto, De Soto National Memorial occupies a peninsula where the Manatee River flows into Tampa Bay. 
Robinson Preserve Edging Tampa Bay, the vast sweep of Robinson Preserve is a puzzle of natural and restored habitats circled by more than ten miles of mixed-use trails. 
Madira Bickel Mound State Archaeological Site One among many intentional high points constructed by ancient peoples along the edges of Tampa Bay, this protected shell mound and adjacent burial site are what remain of a much larger complex at Terra Ceia.
Terra Ceia Preserve State Park Home to many wading birds, Terra Ceia Preserve State Park is an aquatic preserve protecting the ragged northern shoreline of the island of Terra Ceia.
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- Baseline Trails - November 7, 2026
- Hal Scott Yellow Trail - November 3, 2026