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Exploring Fort Myers
First established as a military outpost during the Seminole Wars of the 1830s, Fort Myers grew thanks to its proximity to the Caloosahatchee River.
Cattle barons drove herds down the Kissimmee to Lake Okeechobee and on along the Caloosahatchee, loading steers onto Spanish galleons that paid top dollar in gold.
Today, visitors can hop a hydrofoil to Key West, a ferryboat that whisks you to the southernmost tip of Florida in three hours.
Water plays a large part in recreation in the region, both on it and in it, with the city fringing the massive Big Cypress Swamp ecosystem to the east.
Six Mile Cypress Slough is a must-see for a dip into Big Cypress. Thanks to these wetlands, Fort Myers has extensive natural lands preserving pockets of important habitats.
Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
Winding 1.4 miles through the slough, the broad wheelchair-accessible boardwalk at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in Fort Myers leads you into a dark cypress strand
Most lie to the north of North Fort Myers, a buffer against the spread of suburbia north of Pine Island Rd. But others are tucked among subdivisions within the city and its surrounding communities.
After the Civil War, the city of Fort Myers became a winter destination for tourists hopping steamships down the Gulf Coast. In 1889, inventor Thomas Edison built a grand estate on the Caloosahatchee.
He used it to create a laboratory devoted to the study of tropical plants. As his industrialist and scientist friends visited, the town gained a cultural core and a great deal of botanical interest.
Edison oversaw the planting of hundreds of royal palms along McGregor Boulevard, the original cattle drive route.
The “Avenue of Palms” is still a delight today, a must-drive on a visit to the extensive gardens at his winter home and that of his friend Henry Ford.
Edison & Ford Winter Estates
Tropical gardens from the 1920s grow lavishly around the historic winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers
Featured Trails and Parks near Fort Myers
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