Everywhere: Articles: Nature Is My Great Rejuvenator

The Largo Nature Preserve is a little gem of a park providing a healthy dose of nature and wildlife in a heavily populated part of the sunshine state.

Largo Nature Preserve Foot And Bike Trail by John Rivard

This paved and divided trail winds around the outer boundary of the Nature Preserve at Largo Central park.

When I want to rejuvenate my spirit and get centered again, nature is my medicine of choice. The Nature Preserve at Largo Central Park in Florida is a little gem that serves a healthy dose of nature in the heart of the most densely populated county in the sunshine state. A small sign along the busiest six-lane street in town is easy to miss and even most local residents don’t know about it. This park is a pocket of peace and tranquility surrounded by development.

My favorite way to start the day is to take a camera and notebook for an unhurried stroll through the Nature Preserve and see what it offers to me. The quiet and calm, along with the abundant wildlife, seem to generate a healing synergy every time I visit. This has become a substitute for my early meditation and keeps me inspired and feeling creative all day. Some of the animals, especially the resident alligators, feel like old friends.

Cottontail rabbits usually greet new arrivals along the entrance drive. Ospreys often perch along the path to the pond. Alligators, common moorhens and a wide variety of wading birds live and raise families near the boardwalk around the pond. Occasional wild visitors include roseate spoonbills, pileated woodpeckers and wood ducks.

The central anchor of the park is a hardwood swamp dominated by southern oaks and traversed by a boardwalk. This area is home to raccoons, armadillos, hawks, woodpeckers, songbirds and most recently a turkey. Large Golden Orb Weaver and small Spiny spiders build plentiful webs between the trees during the warmer months. One end of the boardwalk climbs to an observation tower that overlooks a canal and allows close study of the tree canopy.

The trail around the outside of the swamp is bordered by canals that host more wading birds, turtles and river otters. A canoe and kayak put-in on the canal near the parking area gives paddling access to Seminole Lake several miles to the south. Lush native vegetation abounds and there are also mowed lawn areas with covered benches and tables.

I feel very privileged to have this park only two miles from my home in Clearwater. It is never crowded and always a quiet place to get in touch with what is really important in life. The ice cream shop serving the miniature golf/driving range/batting practice complex near the entry to the park is often the finishing touch during the summer months.