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PARKS
Many local parks offer sporting
facilities such as jogging trails, soccer fields, tennis courts and
other fine facilities.
You will find full details,
including location and phone numbers below
BRIAN PICCOLO PARK
9501 Sheridan St., Cooper City 33024. (954) 437-2600. 180 acres.
Named in honor of the late football star who grew up in Broward
County, this 180-acre athletics-oriented park opened in 1989. Among
its many facilities are two basketball courts, a cricket field, a
biking/jogging path, four softball fields, four multipurpose fields,
three soccer/football fields, a practice field, and a
tennis/racquetball center that includes 12 clay tennis courts, six
racquetball courts, showers, and a pro shop.
The park also boasts the Velodrome, which comprises a 333.3-meter
cycling track and a 200-meter banked track for in-line skating. A
variety of programs and classes are available, and the facility
hosts national and international competitions. Other park amenities
include picnic areas with tables and grills, playgrounds, and snack
bars. Fishing is permitted during daylight hours (licenses required
for ages 16 and up).
C. B. SMITH PARK
900 N. Flamingo Rd., Pembroke Pines 33028. (954) 437-2650. 320
acres.
This diverse 320-acre park has an extensive range of facilities. A
five-acre island is home to the 5,000-capacity ConcertGreen, an
open-air amphitheater available for rental. A large lakeside
campground has 60 RV sites with full hookups, 11 tent sites,
showers/restrooms, and a laundry. Safety Town is a miniature
two-block village designed to teach children pedestrian and bike
safety. And a freshwater beach complex includes bathhouse,
playground, two 700-foot waterslides, and a 400-foot tube ride.
There's also a tennis/racquetball center with a pro shop, Family
Golf Center with a driving range, miniature golf course, batting
cages, and a pro shop, an athletic field, a basketball court, a
biking/jogging path, and areas for volleyball. Bikes, boats, and
other sports equipment are available for rent, and fishing is
permitted (except in the marina area).
Other rental facilities include four 160+ capacity picnic shelters,
six 80+ capacity, six 50+ capacity, and three 35+ capacity, all with
tables, grills, water, and electricity. A large pavilion picnic area
can accommodate 300+ people, and a 300+ meeting cabin is equipped
with an elevated stage, restrooms, water, electricity, tables, and
grills. There are also additional picnic areas and playground
throughout the park.
DEERFIELD ISLAND PARK
1720 Deerfield Island Park, Deerfield Beach 33441. (954) 360-1320.
56 acres.
Broward County's only island park, a Designated Urban Wilderness
Area accessible by boat, is bordered by the Intracoastal Waterway
and the Hillsboro and Royal Palm canals. The heavily wooded 56-acre
site is leased from the state, and its coastal strand community
includes an eight-and-a-half-acre mangrove swamp. The park provides
a critical habitat for the gopher tortoise and is a nesting place
for squirrels, raccoons, and armadillos. Both migratory and
indigenous sea birds use it as a roosting and feeding place.
The island's main trails are the half-mile Coquina Trail, which runs
through a coastal hardwood hammock and includes an observation
platform overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, and the
three-quarter-mile Mangrove Trail, which includes a 1,600-foot
boardwalk through a mangrove wetland. There is one picnic shelter
(60 capacity) with grills, water, tables, electricity, volleyball
and horseshoes, available for rental. Other picnic areas with grills
and tables are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There
is also a small playground.
A free shuttle transports visitors to the island (call for times and
reservations), and there is a marina with six slips available for
small boats on a first-come, first-served basis.
EASTERLIN PARK
1000 N.W. 38th St., Oakland Park 33309. (954) 938-0610. 47 acres.
This 47-acre site was acquired in 1944 and developed in the early
'60s as a 44-campsite county facility called Cypress Park. It was
renamed John D. Easterlin Park, after the former County
Commissioner, in April 1965 and later became a Designated Urban
Wilderness Area.
Relatively undisturbed buffer areas of thick wild coffee, ferns,
dahoon holly, cabbage palm, oak, and red maple shield the park from
surrounding developed areas. Cypress trees 250 years old and 100
feet tall are common in the park, which is also home to such
wildlife as ducks, squirrels, and peacocks.
Easterlin's features include 55 RV and tent rental campsites, 45
with water and electricity, as well as a shower/restroom facility,
playgrounds, and the ¾-mile Woodland Nature Trail. There is one
40-capacity picnic shelter with grill, water, electricity, and
picnic tables; additional tables and grills are located in shaded
picnic areas near the park's entrance. Fishing is permitted along
the shore of a lake (licenses required for ages 16 and up), and
there are facilities for basketball, horseshoes, and shuffleboard.
FERN FOREST NATURE CENTER
201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek 33063. (954) 970-0150. 243 acres.
This 243-acre park, a Designated Urban Wilderness Area, opened in
November 1985. It comprises 10 plant communities, an abundance of
wildlife, and remnants of the historic Cypress Creek floodway, as
well as an arboretum that includes 24 varieties of native trees and
shrubs and an exhibit room that features interpretive exhibits on
the park's history.
The nature center boasts a variety of trails. The Cypress Creek
Trail is a half-mile wheelchair-accessible boardwalk through a low
hardwood hammock and maple/cypress communities. The one-mile Prairie
Overlook Trail loops through an open prairie and oak/cabbage palm
communities and includes a 20-foot observation platform. Boots are
recommended for the primitive, sometimes soggy Maple Walk, which
covers a third-mile of red maple swamp. The Wetlands Wander is an
interpretive trail that runs an eighth of a mile, and the Sensory
Garden Trail provides a quiet area for relaxation.
Rental facilities include a covered open-air pavilion (50 capacity)
with eight picnic tables, water and electricity; an amphitheater
(125 capacity); and a 2,300-square-foot assembly hall (175 capacity)
with kitchen and buffet counter. A picnic area offers eight tables
(although no grills or fires are allowed).
Fern Forest also includes a sculpture that's part of the Public Art
and Design program: two bronze pod forms created by artist Jerome
Meadows and installed in the arboretum in 1993.
HOLLYWOOD NORTH BEACH PARK
3501 N. Ocean Dr., Hollywood 33019. (954) 926-2444. 56 acres.
Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, this
56-acre site stretches along a thin strand of land along famous A1A.
The east side of the park provides access to the City of Hollywood's
public beach and its 2.2-mile Broadwalk. The northwest section
includes four picnic areas with tables and grills and a 1,600-foot
boardwalk along the Intracoastal, where fishing is permitted. Just
south of the boardwalk, there are two 80+ capacity rental picnic
shelters, each with water, electricity, tables, and a grill.
Additional picnic areas can be found in the park's main section,
along with a 60-foot observation tower, a walking/biking/jogging
path, playgrounds, snack bars, and a volleyball area. There's also a
sea turtle hatchery with holding tanks, part of the Endangered Sea
Turtle Protection and Relocation Program. Group educational programs
are available by request.
MARKHAM PARK AND RANGE
16001 W. State Rd. 84, Sunrise 33326. (954) 389-2000. 666 acres.
Opened in 1973, this sprawling 666-acre park is perched at the edge
of the Everglades Conservation Area, which is accessible from one of
the park's two boat ramps. A series of interlocking lakes offers
opportunities for fishing (licenses required for ages 16 and up) and
the use of personal watercraft, and there's a swimming pool complex
with mist pool, snack bar, lockers, and showers/restrooms.
One of the site's most prominent features is its outdoor target
range, built in 1984. The complex includes 50-yard and 100-meter
rifle/pistol ranges, skeet/trap fields, a mile-long sporting clays
course, two pro shops, and a clubhouse with snack bars and a meeting
room. Among the park's other distinctive amenities are the Fox
Observatory, a model airplane field, and a mountain bike trail. A
large campground includes 86 sites for RV and tent camping, eight
with full hookups and 78 with water and electricity.
Athletic facilities include a tennis/racquetball center, two
basketball courts, a biking/jogging path, and volleyball areas.
Bikes and boats are available to rent, and there are nature and
equestrian trails.
Two 120+ capacity and three 60+ capacity picnic shelters-all with
grills, tables, and water, two with electricity-are available for
rentals, and there are other picnic tables and grills scattered
throughout the park. A 1,600-square-foot clubhouse adjacent to the
target range can also be rented.
PLANTATION HERITAGE PARK
1100 S. Fig Tree Ln., Plantation 33317. (954) 791-1025. 90 acres.
Formerly a University of Florida agricultural experimentation farm,
this 90-acre park retains a strong agricultural/horticultural theme.
There are tropical flowering trees and palms throughout, along with
displays of local landscape plants, and the Broward County Audubon
Society's Anne Kolb Memorial Trail winds through re-created
representative plant communities. A rare fruit area is maintained by
park staff and the Rare Fruit and Vegetable Council.
The park, which opened in 1984, also offers picnic areas,
playgrounds, nature trails, and a fitness trail. The
2,000-square-foot Fountain Room can be reserved for meetings and
other activities, and there are three picnic shelters with 60+
capacity, and nine with 40+ capacity. Eight of these have
electricity, 11 are with water, and all have grills and tables.
Bikes, boats, and other sporting equipment are available for rental,
and fishing is permitted from the shore of the park's lake (license
required for ages 16 and up). In the park's extension on the south
side of Peters Road, a historic gazebo overlooks a duck pond with
waterfall.
QUIET WATERS PARK
401 S. Powerline Rd., Deerfield Beach 33442. (954) 360-1315. 430
acres.
Water is the focus of this 430-acre park, which includes a
freshwater swimming beach, a lake for cable water-skiing, a variety
of boats for rental, and Splash Adventure, a high-tech, interactive
children's water playground. Fishing is permitted on the shores of
the park's several lakes (licenses required for ages 16 and up),
except in the beach and skiing areas.
The park also has a campground that includes seven sites for camping
with your own tent, and 16 Rent-A-Tent sites, which provide
pre-setup tents with equipment. Rental picnic shelters include 160+
capacity, six 60+ capacity, and two 40+ capacity, all with grills,
water, and tables. Additional tables and grills are available
throughout the park. There's also a pavilion picnic area that can
accommodate groups of up to 400; the site includes two large grills,
tables, electricity, restrooms, a volleyball court, and a horseshoe
pit. For recreation on dry land, Quiet Waters offers a large
playground, an 18-hole miniature golf course, bicycles for rent, and
a biking/jogging trail, as well as snack bars.
SECRET WOODS NATURE CENTER
2701 W. State Rd. 84, Dania 33312. (954) 791-1030. 56 acres.
Purchased with the assistance of the Nature Conservancy, this
Designated Urban Wilderness Area was Broward County's first
interpretive nature center. The 56-acre park, which opened in
September 1978, comprises three vegetative communities found along,
and influenced by, the New River: a freshwater cypress-maple
wetland, a pond apple and mangrove community along the river, and,
at a slightly higher elevation, a laurel oak hammock.
The nature center's two trails are the Laurel Oak Trail, a
1,200-foot wood-chipped trail that runs through the oak hammock, and
the New River Trail, a 3,200-foot wheelchair-accessible boardwalk
that goes through the oak hammock and freshwater and saltwater
wetlands. An exhibit building contains interpretive displays on the
park's flora and fauna, along with an active beehive. An
1,800-square-foot assembly hall (135 capacity), with a full kitchen
and tables and chairs, is available for rental, which also includes
use of the adjacent open-air amphitheater (135 capacity).
TRADEWINDS PARK
3600 W. Sample Rd., Coconut Creek 33073. (954) 968-3880. 599 acres.
At 599 acres, this is one of Broward County's largest and most
diverse parks. On the south side of Sample Road, the park includes
batting cages, disc and miniature golf, nature trails, a lake for
fishing, boat and bike rentals, a biking/jogging path, and
soccer/football and softball fields available for rental. Butterfly
World, a walk-through tropical garden with thousands of live
butterflies and a hummingbird aviary, is also on the south side.
On the park's north side, the Tradewinds Stable provides equestrian
programs, and the Tradewinds Educational Farm include barnyard
animals and a farmhouse museum and is available for guided tours for
preschool through middle school students. The north side is also
home to a model steam railroad, horses and the handicapped, and the
annual Holiday Fantasy of Lights, a drive-through light display that
runs from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day.
Both sides of the park offer playgrounds, snack bars, and picnic
areas. Rental facilities include a 200+ capacity pavilion, along
with picnic shelters-one 120+ capacity, five 60-100 capacity; two
40+ capacity, and one 25+ capacity. All have grills, water, and
tables, and eight have electricity.
TREE TOPS PARK
3900 S.W. 100th Ave., Davie 33328. (954) 370-3750. 356 acres.
The 356 acres of this suburban park range from 23 acres of restored
freshwater marsh accessible by a 1,000-foot boardwalk to the
101-acre Pine Island Ridge, an archaeological site that includes
equestrian and nature trails and is the highest natural elevation
(29 feet) in Broward County.
Two other nature trails (one with an observation tower), a sensory
awareness trail, a biking/jogging path, and additional equestrian
trails wind through the park, and there are playgrounds and picnic
tables and grills throughout the area. Two 100+ capacity and three
50+ capacity picnic shelters, all with water, electricity, tables,
and grills, are available for rental. The 3,440-square-foot building
at Tree Tops Center includes rental meeting rooms, an outdoor
pavilion, and kitchen facilities.
Elsewhere in the park, there's a butterfly garden, a gopher tortoise
preserve, a sculpture dedicated to the Seminole leader Sam Jones (Abiaka),
and Safety Town, a miniature two-block village designed to teach
pedestrian and bicycle safety to children. There are also volleyball
areas and a marina that offers boat and sports equipment rentals and
a snack bar.
T.Y. PARK
3300 N. Park Rd., Hollywood 33021. (954) 985-1980. 150 acres.
The Seminole name of this 150-acre urban park means "meeting or
gathering place," and one of the park's amenities is a
375-square-foot rental meeting cabin with picnic area that can
accommodate 300+ people. There's also a lakeside gazebo, along with
one 200+ capacity picnic shelter, four 90+ capacity, eight 40+
capacity, and one 20+ capacity, all with water, electricity, grills,
and tables.
The park's Whispering Pines Campground includes 60 rental RV and
tent sites, 48 with water and electricity. Showers/restrooms,
laundry facilities, a playground, and the Trading Post minigrocery
store are nearby.
Elsewhere in the park are Safety Town, a miniature two-block village
designed to teach pedestrian and bicycle safety to children, and the
Falling Waters Swimming Lagoon, which includes a waterfall,
bathhouse, and a freshwater beach. The new Castaway Island water
playground complex features two pools, a picnic area, a concession
stand, and restrooms. Wild Dolphins, a Kevin MacIvor fiberglass
sculpture that's part of the Public Art and Design program, is also
in this complex.
T.Y. also offers bikes and several kinds of boats for rent, two hard
tennis courts, two basketball courts, a biking/jogging path,
volleyball areas, and concessions.
WEST LAKE PARK/ANNE KOLB NATURE CENTER
751 Sheridan St., Hollywood 33019. (954) 926-2480. 1,500+ acres.
The 88 acres that make up the West Lake Park Recreational Area, on
the south side of Sheridan Street, include picnic areas, a
biking/jogging/fitness trail, tennis and racquetball courts,
volleyball areas, and a playground. Two 45+ capacity picnic shelters
are available for rental, and there's a marina where several kinds
of boats can be rented. The Manatee Play Area is a children's
wheelchair-accessible playground.
The rest of the West Lake Park/Anne Kolb Nature Center complex is a
1,400+ acre coastal mangrove wetland that's home to an abundance of
plants and animals, including some threatened and endangered
species. Five boat trails offer access to this wilderness area for
fishing and sightseeing (electric motors only).
The Anne Kolb Nature Center, opened in 1996 and named after the late
County Commissioner and environmentalist, includes a five-level
observation tower, picnic areas, a fishing pier, two nature trails,
and an outdoor amphitheater (250 capacity). An exhibit hall features
nature displays, a 3,500-gallon aquarium, and a 10-minute
ecological-themed video, and the 6,060-square-foot Mangrove Hall
(277 capacity), complete with kitchen facilities, can be rented for
weddings, receptions, meetings, and other activities. Environmental
boat tours depart from the nature center dock for 40-minute narrated
excursions onto West Lake on a 32-foot shaded boat (42 capacity).
Please
contact us if you would like to add to this list
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