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John Chestnut Park

Birding / Hiking / Adventuring Roadtrip Info

ROUGH DRAFT
Andrew Thoreson
Aug 2017
 Typical view [?]
Photo Galleries
Typical View (9)

Snapshots! (5)
GRADES: Click each for info, * = Note
How Big Not Rated
Importance Not Rated
Revisit? A
Birding C *
Wildlife B *
Summer Heat B
Terrain B
Fun Hike B
Maintained B
Mosquitos C
Biting Files A *
Ticks B
NOTE: C+/B-. Good for a forest but not mega site.
NOTE: Oddball, see Experience section
NOTE: Could be but never had any
 LOCATION: Accuracy: Read me
Map On Big Map: Click map (or on google maps). Address: 2200 East Lake Rd., Palm Harbor, FL, Pinellas, USA, 34685

1) What It's Like

Municipal park on the corner of lake Tarpon. Cypress, Pine, and some hardwoods.  Impressive enough we've been several times because 1) So many birds despite the tree canopy being so high above you and 2) A lot of wildlife considering how much suburbia is around it.

2) Kinds of Birds

Woodpeckers beyond just red bellied. Wrens, gallinules, some ducks, forest birds. Not just having them but seeing them since birds so often tend to hang out at the tops of forests.

3) Wildlife

We almost always see deer. See Experience section for discussion.

4) Amenities

It's a full municipal park right next to this so everything you'd expect.

5) Time Requirements

The trail isn't that long - less than a mile. The last time we walked it we took 40 minutes. Some of that was just watching birds. You could easily make it a quick stop and turn around. It starts out interesting.

 

 

Experience

You enter the park and often deer are right there - we thought they were statues next to the sign the first time. You turn left and you get to an extra quiet part of the park where the trail is. Much of the other part of the park is typical BBQs etc but also a lot of boating and jetskiing goes on here.

It starts out with boardwalks and goes along the lake for awhile. Full non-shallow lakes like this often have few ducks visible but usually you can see gallinules.

It curves into the forest and goes along a creek that's charming - it feels like you're out in the woods. That often gets ruined by kids on jetskis FLYING through yelling but it's quiet more often than not. I'd pay attention for the whole trail but we tend to see the most birds here probably. Then it curves back around - there are two routes but they're both about the same in the end.

Regarding the wildlife: Looking at satellite photos I think what is going on is that one - it's a big lake and that attracts wildlife to an extent. But to the other side Brooker Creek extends about the entire length of that already elongated tall lake. The part that makes me surprised is that it's about 2 miles away with lots of suburban development in between. If you look close however you see there are forested gaps between them. The entire area has deer in oddball places like right next to major highway stoplights. So I'm guessing they maybe did something intentional here to allow mini-wildlife corridors. If they did - that's impressive - and very UN-Florida..... which IMHO is great.

 

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