Carlton Reserve (T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. Memorial Reserve)

Depending on the scale of the experience you are looking for, this site offers a little bit of everything. The main public use area is a little more than 100 acres and offers trails through hardwood hammock and pine flatwoods (listen for Bachman’s sparrows), and around freshwater marsh and forested swamp (hotspots for migrating warblers). For the more adventurous, the full 24,500 acres of the preserve borders the huge Myakka River State Park and offer continuous trails and power line rights-of-way that can be hiked or biked as far as you care to go. Include prairie and oak scrub to the list of habitat types already mentioned and you have an idea of the diversity that awaits you. Call ahead for trail conditions and to request a backcountry map. Be sure to take plenty of water and sunscreen. Park may close when flooded.