Barefoot Beach Preserve
In a hidden corner of Collier County, Barefoot Beach Preserve provides immersion in nature at a beauty spot along two miles of natural shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico just north of Wiggins Pass.

Halfway between Fort Myers and Naples, Estero grew up around the Estero River, which flows into Estero Bay.

In a hidden corner of Collier County, Barefoot Beach Preserve provides immersion in nature at a beauty spot along two miles of natural shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico just north of Wiggins Pass.

At the northern end of Lovers Key State Park, the Black Island Trail makes lemonade out of lemons with a scenic hike or off-road ride in natural landscapes reshaped for coastal development.

Named after a striking bird of prey known to frequent this part of the state, a well-marked loop trail winds across shady hammocks, cattle pastures, and open prairies.

On this 4.4 mile loop, experience an impressive array of habitats in Florida panther habitat - from sandy flatwoods to flooded cypress swamps - in the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed.

Just four miles east of Interstate 75, get your feet wet in one corner of the vast the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed on the trails of Flint Pen Strand.

Plunge into a wild landscape of verdant pine forests and mysterious cypress swamps on a series of connected loops stretching from Flint Pen Strand to the Bird Rookery Swamp Trail.

The westernmost of the loops at Flint Pen Strand, the 1.5 mile Red Trail is an easy introduction to the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed.

An aquatic preserve, Estero Bay Preserve State Park has mangrove-rimmed flats beloved of flats fisherman and paddlers as well as two upland access points with extensive trails.

Skirting the edge of a tidal marsh alongside Estero Bay, the loop trails at Estero River Scrub are incredibly unique and a challenge to hike.

At the Koreshan Unity in Estero, Florida, a group of believers gathered in 1894 to build their paradise. It is now a National Historic Site and a Florida State Park.

A conservationist and a Floridian who truly made a difference for Florida, Ellen Peterson, founded Florida's Sierra Club chapter in the 1970s and fought to keep Fisheating Creek open to paddlers. She leaves behind a sterling legacy for our state.

When Dr. Cyrus Teed founded a commune along the banks of the Estero River in 1894, he envisioned a utopia in the tropics. Koreshan State Park preserves that slice of history.
