Field Trip Site Information and Directions
All trips begin at 9:30 and end at approximately 11:30 unless otherwise specified.
Coquina Bayside at Bradenton Beach
This bayside restoration park is now the newest Manatee County Conservation Land. Join us for a walk through the mangrove forest and look for osprey, fiddler crabs and migratory birds!
From Bradenton take the Cortez Road Bridge to Anna Maria Island and turn left. The park is on your left about 1/2 mile before the Longboat Bridge.
Emerson Point Preserve on Snead Island in Palmetto:
Discover the coastal uplands and Native American history: Meet at the Temple Mound parking lot for a 2-hour tour including the largest remaining Native American Temple Mound on Tampa Bay. Learn the story of the invasive air potato and why hundreds of students every year participate in the “spud-busting” restoration project here.
From I-75 take Ellenton Exit #43. Proceed west to Snead Island
From I-275 Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Remain in the right lane for US 19 Palmetto
Take Business 41 into Palmetto. Turn right at the 2nd traffic light (Checkers/Eckerds)
From US Hwy 41 Business in Palmetto. At 10th Street W. (Checkers/Eckerds)
Turn west (toward the sunset) and continue onto Snead Island.
Follow small brown signs to Emerson Point Park
- Right on Tarpon
- Left on 17th Street W.
Continue through park entrance about 100 yds. Parking for Portavant Temple mound is on left. If lot is full, park in grass on right shoulder.
Felts Audubon Preserve:
This 30-acre preserve on the corner of Experimental Farm Road & 24th Avenue East in Palmetto was passed on to the Manatee Audubon Society by Otis Felts upon his death in 2002. The Audubon Society is restoring it to its natural ecosystems and planning to use it as an environmental education center.
Felts Preserve is located on the corner of Experimental Farm Road and 24th
Ave. E. The address is 4600 24th Ave. E, Palmetto.
From U.S. Hwy 41: Head north from Palmetto to the light at Experimental
Farm Road. Turn right and head east about a mile. Turn right onto 24th
Ave. E. and the preserve is on your left.
From I-75: Head west from the Ellenton Exit #224. Turn right on
Ellenton-Gillette Road and travel about 2 miles north. Turn left on Experimental
Farm Road, travel less than 1 mile and turn left onto 24th Ave. E.
The preserve is on your left.
http://www.manateeaudubon.org/felts.htm
Joan M. Durante Park, Longboat Key:
This tour focuses on local "Vanishing Ecosystems": Florida scrub and Florida dry prairie. This is a restoration project in progress and provides a wonderful opportunity to see "before and after" efforts to preserve these special systems. This park is located about 26 miles East of I-75.
I-75 to SR 70 – exit west. Take SR 70 all the way past US 41 until it curves and becomes 75th St. W. Turn left onto Cortez Rd. Take Cortez west across bridge to Bradenton Beach. Turn left onto Gulf of Mexico Dr. and cross the bridge to Longboat Key. The park is about 6 miles down on your left. 5550 Gulf of Mexico Drive.
DeSoto National Memorial/Riverview Pointe, Bradenton:
The first encounters between the Native Floridians and the Europeans is interpreted here - right in the mangrove forest! You must experience the walk that the conquistadors encountered 500 years ago. Early American History right here in Florida.
I-75 to SR 64 – exit west. Continue West as it becomes Manatee Ave. to 75th St. W. Turn right on 75th St. and take it to the end. Riverview Pointe Park is just before DeSoto National Park
Rye Preserve:
Learn about the Upper Manatee River and Florida Scrub ecosystem: Meet at the picnic pavilion prepared to ford the shallow Rye Branch creek. Discover the ancient history of the Florida Scrub community, and the more recent pioneer settlement as we visit the Rye Family Cemetery.
Take SR 64 east: 4 mi. east of I-75 to Rye Rd.Turn north on Rye Rd. and proceed about 4 miles. You will go over a small bridge that crosses the Manatee River. Entrance to Rye Wilderness Park is on right just past bridge. (Do not be confused by the brand new development with the same name [Rye Wilderness] about 3 miles down Rye Rd. Continue past this new development to the bridge.)