Portavant Mound Trail, Emerson Point Preserve

Mar 2025 update. The tropical forest canopy was relatively denuded by Hurricane Milton and some of the larger gumbo limbos uprooted. The boardwalk to the dock near the Portavent Mound is closed due to damage. The nature center restrooms are closed due to damage. Portable toilets are provided.

Ancient echoes remain at the Portavant Mounds, an important complex of riverfront mounds protected at Emerson Point Preserve.

Little is known of why they exist, other than they served the needs of a civilization that relied on the bounty of the surrounding estuary.

Platform atop a mound along the Manatee River

More such mounds exist along Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay. Called the Woodland Culture in Florida, these peoples lived during the same era as the Hopewell Culture in Ohio.

Given the height of the tallest mounds and their strategic locations, we can wonder if they were meant as signal towers near the mouth of Tampa Bay.

A hike around the mounds provides a gateway to most of the rest of the trails in the park. Our exploration of them begins from the parking area in front of the nature center.

One of the ramps to the top of the Portavant Mound

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

South Florida Explorers Guide book cover

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

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Overview

Location: Palmetto
Length: 0.9 mile
Trailhead: 27.531673, -82.628290
Address: 5801 17th Street W, Palmetto
Fees: Free
Restroom: At the nature center
Land manager: Manatee County
Phone: 941-748-4501

Open sunrise to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome. Cyclists are restricted from most of this loop. Expect mosquitoes near the waterfront and in deep shade.

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. Make the first left to follow the loop through the main parking area and park near the nature center.

Hike

To start a circuit of the Portavant Mound Trail, walk along the exit road for the parking area to an entrance path on the right with a map.

Turn right at the map junction, burrowing into a lush hammock. Emerge along the green lawn between the picnic pavilion and launch.

Entry point. Make a right at the map.

Curving around the hill, climb along a forested slope above the Manatee River. Wild coffee and marlberry edge the boards of the path. Thick streamers of Spanish moss dangle above.

This tropical hammock has many slender trees beneath the canopy of ancient live oaks. An opening on the right reveals a massive stump from a live oak snapped off by hurricane winds.

Tall stump in clearing in tropical forest

Tall stump of an ancient oak

Reach a T intersection with the more direct path from your starting point and turn right. A straightaway leads to steps for a climb over an arm of the Portavant Mound.

More than 150 feet long and 80 feet wide, this ancient temple mound complex is smothered in tropical hammock. A gumbo-limbo crowns the corner, one of the largest we’ve ever seen.

Climb the stairs to traverse a corner of the mound

Others in this forest are also enormous. Despite the age and size of the oldest trees, the mound is so much older: more than a thousand years old.

The landscape dips into a bowl on the left. Descend a series of long steps to a junction with a “State Archaeological Site” sign. Turn right.

Spur trail to a waterfront mound

Switchback up a portion of the mound beneath more gumbo-limbos with peeling red bark to a large platform overlooking the Manatee River.

At a quarter mile, take in the views through the limbs of a large live oak leaning over the steep bluff. Built-in benches sit below, and tree cactus swarms across branches overhead.

View from the mound along the Manatee River

Return downhill, making a right at the junction to pop out into an open green space edged by live oaks. The ramp to the left leads to the top of the Portavant Mound.

Turn right first to walk to the Manatee River along this intentional avenue built by homesteaders in the 1860s. An interpretive panel explains the bounty of this coastal region.

Walk the pier behind it for views of the mangrove-lined shoreline of Snead Island and landmarks at De Soto National Memorial on the far shore.

Manatee River

Returning to the ramp, ascend the Portavant Mound, taking time to read the interpretive panels about the culture that thrived here.

Topped with platforms with benches beneath the live oak canopy, this temple complex also had a house built on it in 1866.

Platform and interpretive signs atop the mound

Remnants of homesteading are obvious in a jumble of foundations, a cistern, and the explosive growth of ornamental plants across this mound.

Fortunately, most of the homeowners who occupied this spot did not remove a significant amount of mound material, unlike at other archaeological complexes around the state.

The state and Manatee County acquired what is now Emerson Point Preserve in 1991.

A timeline at Emerson Point

Descend the mound using the long ramp on its opposite side. At the base is a generalized recap of the civilization that lived here.

The path to the left winds around the base of the mound to return to your starting point near the nature center for a 0.9 mile loop.

Pathway back to the nature center

A slight left aims for a picnic pavilion well-hidden by the forest. Straight ahead is the “Pioneer Trail” trailhead along the exit road from the nature center, with limited parking.

The path to the right crosses the park road for a much longer hike using the North and South Trails as connectors to the Terra Ceia Trail.

Pioneer Trail trailhead

Trail Map

Explore More!

Learn more about Emerson Point Preserve

Ramp descending through jungle-like growth

Emerson Point Preserve Where the Manatee River meets Tampa Bay, Emerson Point Preserve has a network of trails around a complex centered on one of Florida's most ancient temple mounds, the Portavant Mound, near Bradenton.

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.

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.

Bayfront observation deck framed by mangroves

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.

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.

Video

A walk through the Portavant Mound Trail

Slideshow

See our photos from the Portavant Mound Trail

Nearby Adventures

Waterfront trail amid sea grapes and mangroves

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.

Red flowers blooming under large tree on pond's edge

Palma Sola Botanical Park Now a showcase for temperate and tropical species, this former ten acre nursery encompasses collections of palms, fruit trees, and flowering tropical trees.

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.

Trail Map (PDF) Official Website