Local Guide

State Parks and Preserves Near Anna Maria Island

Anna Maria Island is small, and that turns out to be its advantage: almost everything worth seeing on this coast is within an hour of it. Two of the best are free and close enough to do before lunch. One is an hour inland and will be the thing the children remember.

Before you go

The Manatee County preserves on this list, along with De Soto National Memorial, are free. The state park and the Pinellas county park charge, and those rates change, so check the park's own page.
Most of these are open sunrise to sunset. The state and national sites have posted hours that are shorter.
Summer mornings and evenings belong to the mosquitoes on any trail near water. Bring repellent even for a short walk.
Take water everywhere. Shade is patchy on the restored wetland trails and nonexistent out on Myakka's prairie.
Remember that a cart cannot cross the bridges off the island. Everything here except Coquina and Leffis Key is a car trip.

The parks

Coquina Beach and Leffis Key

On the island, Bradenton Beach

The pair at the south end. Coquina is the island's biggest beach day, shaded by tall pines, with the largest lot on the island. Directly across Gulf Drive, Leffis Key is a small restored preserve of shell paths and boardwalks with a low promontory looking out over Sarasota Bay.

Worth knowing: Free, and reachable by bike or cart from anywhere on the island. The boat ramp beside Leffis Key is one of the better places to stand and wait for dolphins.

Robinson Preserve

Northwest Bradenton, about fifteen minutes from the island

Six hundred and eighty acres of restored coastal wetland with miles of trail: paved paths and boardwalk for easy walking and riding, crushed shell for everything else, kayak launches into the tidal creeks, and a tall observation tower with a view back across the bay to Anna Maria Island.

Worth knowing: Free, open sunrise to sunset every day. Mosquitoes are real at dawn and dusk in summer, so bring something for them.

De Soto National Memorial

Bradenton, about twenty minutes from the island

A small National Park Service site on the Manatee River marking the 1539 landing of Hernando de Soto's expedition. A short memorial trail runs through mangrove tunnel and along the shore, there is a visitor center with a film, and in the cooler months rangers and volunteers run a living history camp.

Worth knowing: Free. It takes an hour or two, which makes it a good pairing with Robinson Preserve on the same morning.

Neal Preserve and Emerson Point Preserve

On the way to and from the island

Two more free Manatee County preserves close enough to stop at without planning. Neal Preserve sits on Perico Island right beside the causeway, with a short loop and an observation platform over the grass flats. Emerson Point, out on Snead Island, is larger, with a Native American temple mound, an observation tower and trails through mangrove and hammock.

Worth knowing: Both free. Neal Preserve in particular is a fifteen-minute stop you pass anyway.

Myakka River State Park

East of Sarasota, about an hour inland

One of Florida's oldest and largest state parks, and nothing like the coast. Oak hammock, palm prairie, a river full of alligators, and a canopy walkway that takes you up into the treetops and onto a tower above them. Boat and tram tours run in season.

Worth knowing: Per-vehicle entrance fee. Go early: the wildlife is active in the morning and the middle of the day out on the prairie is hot.

Fort De Soto Park

Pinellas County, about an hour north across the Skyway

Five connected barrier islands at the mouth of Tampa Bay, with a genuine nineteenth-century coastal fort, several miles of paved multi-use trail, a long fishing pier, kayak trails and North Beach, which turns up on national best-beach lists year after year.

Worth knowing: Parking fee at the park, plus tolls on the Sunshine Skyway and the Pinellas Bayway on the way in. Worth a whole day rather than an afternoon.

Picking one

If you only do one

Robinson Preserve. Free, close, and it works as a walk, a ride or a paddle depending on the mood of the group.

If you have two hours

Leffis Key and the Coquina boat ramp, both on the island, both free, and both reachable on the bikes from the house.

If you want alligators

Myakka River State Park, and go early. The canopy walkway alone justifies the hour in the car.

If you have a whole day

Fort De Soto. The fort, the trail and North Beach fill a day comfortably, and the drive over the Skyway is half the fun.

Getting there from the house

Coquina Beach and Leffis Key are island destinations, which means the bikes or the cart from the house both work. Everything else on this list is over a bridge, and the bridges off Anna Maria Island are posted above the limit a low-speed vehicle may use, so those are car trips. The reasons are in the Anna Maria golf cart guide.

Common questions

What is the best nature park near Anna Maria Island?

Robinson Preserve in northwest Bradenton, about fifteen minutes off the island. It is free, it is huge, and it has paved trails, shell paths, kayak launches and an observation tower looking back over the bay toward the island. It is the easiest good decision on this list.

Is there anything to do on Anna Maria Island besides the beach?

Leffis Key, right across Gulf Drive from Coquina Beach, is a small preserve with shell trails climbing a low promontory to a view over Sarasota Bay, plus boardwalks down to the water. It takes half an hour and almost nobody staying on the island knows it is there.

How far is Myakka River State Park from Anna Maria Island?

Roughly an hour inland, east of Sarasota. It is the longest drive on this list and the most different from everything else you will see this week: oak hammock, prairie, a canopy walkway up in the treetops, and more alligators than you were expecting.

Is Fort De Soto worth the drive from Bradenton?

If you have a spare day, yes. It is about an hour north across the Sunshine Skyway, and it is five connected islands with a historic fort, a long paved trail, and North Beach, which is consistently rated one of the best beaches in the country. Tolls apply on the Skyway and the Pinellas Bayway.

Can we take bikes to these parks?

Robinson Preserve and Fort De Soto both have long stretches of paved trail and are excellent on a cruiser. De Soto National Memorial is a short walk rather than a ride. Myakka's park drive is paved and rideable. The bikes at an Amenio partner home fit a standard car rack, and Leffis Key is close enough to ride to from most of the island.

Staying at an Amenio partner home?

The bikes, cart, and beach gear are already part of your stay. They are at the house when you walk in, so there is nothing to pick up and nothing to carry home. Amenio works only with partner vacation homes on Florida's Emerald Coast, Suncoast, and First Coast, so if your house is one of ours, the gear is already there.

Want to see what is at the house? See the bikes, or find your reservation. Questions about equipment at your home? Call or text 850-231-8000.

Already booked a partner home?

Open your stay to see the bikes, cart and beach gear waiting at the house.