Best Reasons for Visiting Koreshan St. Park

We visit the Fort Myers, Florida area often since my in-laws live in Cape Coral. We've often saw signs to Koreshan St. Park, but couldn't imagine why anyone would visit. One day, I insisted, and it turned out to be a quite fun day. Here's ten reasons why a visit to Koreshan St. Park will delight you.

Commune Buildings Let You Imagine the Past Lives of Settlers at Koreshan St. Park

The buildings at Koreshan St. Park cover several generations of homes used by the religious commune. They get steadily bigger with nicer features and showcase early Floridian lifestyle architectural features. Overall you'll end up knowing more of the local history of Florida. Note: Click the link to visit the Florida State Park site.

See Gopher Tortoises at Koreshan St. Park

Gopher tortoises aren't seen every day and are threatened. We didn't even know about them until we overheard one of the volunteers in the commune buildings discussing them with another visitor. She was very helpful in explaining to us where we should look. Once we found them, they were easy to find again. On site at Koreshan St. Park, gopher tortoises can be seen in their burrow or moving and are protected by law.

Kayak or Canoe the River at Koreshan St. Park

Kayaks and canoes can be rented nearby. The river at Koreshan St. Park is slow moving and can offer chances of exercise and of wildlife viewing.

Have a Picnic at Koreshan St. Park

Facilities are available to have a picnic or barbecue at Koreshan St. Park. A playground for the children was available and the children had quite vocal fun. Bathrooms were also available.

Trails are Adequate to Stretch Legs

A short trail runs along the river and over to the commune buildings at Koreshan St. Park. Round trip is maybe 1 to 1.5 miles and is a good way to view wildlife and get away from noise.

Get Ideas for Building Bridges

To get to the commune buildings at Koreshan St. Park, bridges were built to cross creeks. Many of the bridges built showcase a variety of styles and are quite picturesque.

Check out the Wildlife

Besides the gopher tortoises, other wildlife we saw included birds but not the promised chance of deer, or panther.

Overall, our visit to Koreshan St. Park in February found the woods dry, somewhat populated by birds, but interesting in terms of the commune buildings and history and the added benefit of seeing a gopher tortoise made it a real win.

See more pictures in Highlights of Koreshan State Park, Florida Photographs.