Matheson Hammock Park

This park can be thought of in three parts. The northernmost entrance offers two parking areas, the first of which is immediately after turning east off of Old Cutler. Here you can access the park-like portion of the property, comprised of grassy fields with tall hardwoods that occasionally host migratory songbirds and vagrants from the tropics; La Sagra’s Flycatcher and Thick-billed Vireo have been found in the park. Other major rarities on the park’s checklist include Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and Townsend’s Warbler. If you drive further east down the entrance road, there is an entrance fee to get to the water. The wading beach can be worth checking at low tide for waders and shorebirds; the swimming beach provides access to scope Biscayne Bay for seabirds and wintering loons. Both can be busy with beachgoers in appropriate weather. Just south of the main entrance, on the opposite (W) side of Old Cutler Rd. is a parking lot pull-off for the hammock trails portion of the property. This is the most natural portion of the park and an access road from the south end of the parking lot makes birding for migrant songbirds easier.