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Itchepackesassa Creek Wetlands

Birding / Hiking / Adventuring Roadtrip Info

ROUGH DRAFT

Aug 2018
 Typical view [?]
Photo Galleries
Typical View (8)

Snapshots! (6)
GRADES: Click each for info, * = Note
How Big Not Rated
Importance Not Rated
Revisit? C
Birding B *
Wildlife D
Summer Heat F
Terrain C
Fun Hike Not Rated
Maintained C *
Mosquitos B
Biting Files A
Ticks B *
NOTE: B-
NOTE: Grass gets tall
NOTE: Tall grass but not many ticks in this area
 LOCATION: Accuracy: Read me
Map On Big Map: Click map (or on google maps). Address: 1285 Walker Rd, Lakeland, FL, Polk, USA, 33810
OFFICIAL INFO:

1) What It's Like

A big pond being fed mostly clean sewage water that does bring birds in but you can't really see them from the edge because it's one big pond.

2) Kinds of Birds

Purple gallinules live here and in parks near here (Lake Parker Park especially). Limpkins, and the typical heron/egret crowd. Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds. So basically water birds.

3) Wildlife

Dead crawfish is all we've seen. It's not really away from city enough or with enough trees to expect to see much of anything. You'd have to assume alligators live in there but you're not terribly likely to see them for the same reason the birds are sort of hard to see. Saw a sign for a trail in back but haven't explored that or seen it detailed anywhere else.

4) Amenities

Nothing but signs. It's close to the interstate.

5) Directions

No secrets to it really just follow address from phone. It's a dirt parking lot that should be fairly clear.

6) Dear Ranger

Not really a ranger level decision but I'd suggest the people who alocate funds visit Sweetwater, Vierra, or Orlando Wetlands and ask themselves if they would like theirs to be more usable. I suspect this is more about just cleaning water and not ecotourism for them though.

7) Time Requirements

You could spend more than an hour circumnavigating the thing which we've yet to do because it's not advisable in summer. And you could also just check it out in 5 minutes. You might want to walk to the right a bit where the plants open up though.

Experience

There's a general type of park (Orlando wetlands, Vierra, Sweetwater, etc) that uses mostly treated sewage water and filters it through ponds for the plants to clean it up. Birds love it and seems to work very well.They may have design reasons or maybe this is phase one... but the way this park is set up right now it's very very boring compared to the other parks of this type. It's a sea of water plants - so there are birds in there. But in the other parks they made boardwalks and or made a system of ponds with raised trails between them so you could see things. Not so here - it's all one big square pond. So you can see some birds but you have to walk a LONG WAY to see the same amount of things and instead of having different ponds with different qualities that different birds might prefer - again it's just the one thing. Unless there is a secret 2nd level to this thing in back we've missed. Also since you can't really shade this kind of park it's not something you want to walk miles around. So it's worth stopping if you're passing by but I wouldn't bother walking around the whole thing. Also there's a sign for a trail in one corner but it's not on the maps and we haven't had the endurance to keep going during our summer visits yet.

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