 Region:
Southwest
FAKAHATCHEE STRAND PRESERVE STATE PARK
Copeland, Florida
Contact Information
P.O. Box 548
Copeland, 33926
(239) 695-4593
Driving Directions
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is located
on Janes Memorial Scenic Drive, just west of Copeland
on S.R. 29.
Hours of Operation
Florida state parks are open from 8 a.m. until sundown
365 days a year.
The Big Cypress Swamp of southwest Florida is basically
a flat, gently sloping limestone plain. During the rainy season (June
through September), water flows slowly southward over this plain into
the mangrove swamps bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Water also flows
below ground through the porous underlying limestone.
In places, limestone has dissolved,
forming elongated sloughs or channels which have accumulated deep
organic soils. These channels or sloughs have been colonized by
cypress and other trees, creating swamp forests that stand out on
the horizon in contrast to the open prairies and pinelands that
occupy the sterile veneer of marl soil which is on top of the remaining
limestone. The local term for these linear swamps is "strand."
Park Activities
Nature Trails
and Wildlife Viewing
Nature Trails
A 2,000-foot long boardwalk at Big Cypress Bend,
meandering through the old growth cypress, enables
the visitor to experience the beauty of this unusual
swamp.
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