Lovers Key State Park
There are some wonderful birding opportunities at Lovers Key. Some of those opportunities are very
accessible in nature, including for wheelchair users. One great bird-watching area is our pedestrian
bridge that connects the island of Lovers Key with the smaller island of Inner Key . This bridge spans a
large, shallow mud flat as it makes its way out onto the beach. From this one location, bird watchers can
view a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, and even several active osprey nests. We also have a large
picnic pavilion located directly on the beach, and this pavilion can actually provide a good bird-watching
platform, especially since it offers some comforting shade. A visitor can reach the pavilion by taking a
ride on our park tram, which provides transportation directly to this structure from the main parking lot.
The tram itself is fully accessible as well…we often transport wheelchairs on the tram. In addition, our
park also has several “beach wheelchairs” for use by our ADA visitors. These are not motor-powered
wheelchairs, but they do have the large, low-pressure tires that allow the wheelchair to be pushed easily
up and down the beach or down a trail.
Our restrooms are accessible and we have many accessible picnic tables.
I would have to respond negatively to the question, can the site be birded from a car. That isn’t really
an accessibility issue…rather, it’s more due to the fact that there is only one road inside the park, and it
does not run past the best birding areas.
Other than the beach, we also have our Black Island Trail. The total length of Black Island Trail is 2.6
miles. But, there are two “shortcut spurs” provided on the trail that provide a visitor with an opportunity
to take a shorter walk if they so desire. This is a natural surface trail with stretches that are sandy,
shelly, or grassy in nature. We’ve seen many visitors who use a wheelchair come to the park with a
friend or relative, and they use one of our beach wheelchairs to go around the trail. We even have one
very regular park visitor who has one of those small mobility “scooters” who loves to go around Black
Island Trail on her own. There are a lot of birding opportunities around Black Island Trail as well.
Feel free to take a look at our park website:
http://www.floridastateparks.org/loverskey/default.cfm
In short, I think Lovers Key has a lot to offer to birding enthusiasts, including those who might be
mobility challenged. We’re here to help and we want all of our visitors to have a great experience while
they are here, and we’ll do our best to make sure that happens.
-Michael Hensley-
Park Manager III
Lovers Key State Park
8700 Estero Boulevard
Ft. Myers Beach, FL 33931
239-463-4588
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From: Kiser, Mark [mailto:Mark.Kiser@MYFWC.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 3:37 PM
To: SFBT-L@LISTSERV.MYFWC.COM
Subject: Spring 2009 Birding Trail newsletter and wheelchair accessibility request
Greetings from the Great Florida Birding Trail!
Welcome to our spring 2009 edition of the newsletter, Kite Tales!
Please click here for the full-sized version of the newsletter (PDF, 3.05 MB)
Please click here for the small version without graphics (PDF, 138 KB)
You may also wish to visit our newsletter page, http://floridabirdingtrail.com/newsletter.htm, for links to all
past newsletters as well as the current edition (if, for some reason, the above links do not work).
If you are unable to open the PDFs, please contact Selena Kiser (see contact information below).
Happy viewing!
-The Great Florida Birding Trail and Wildlife Viewing staff
If you no longer wish to be on our Great Florida Birding Trail mailing list, please contact:
Selena Kiser
Great Florida Birding Trail
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 S. Meridian St.
Tallhassee, FL 32399
850.488.9453
selena.kiser@MyFWC.com
floridabirdingtrail.com/
MyFWC.com/
Also, we have a request from Darlene Smyth at EZbirdingadventures@comfortablebirdingforall.com
http://www.comfortablebirdingforall.com/
She is requesting detailed information about wheelchair accessibility and other barrier-free viewing
opportunities/features (viewing by car, paved trails, wheelchair accessible picnic tables, etc.) at each
GFBT location.
Could each of the GFBT sites that have some type of barrier-free viewing or accessibility please forward
the following information to her:
1. Wheelchair accessible trail (and name and length of that trail)
2. Easy, low-impact trail (and name and length of that trail)
3. If the site can be birded from a car
4. If a guide or tour company is willing to modify site tours for wheelchair birders
5. If wheelchair accessible picnic tables are present
6. If wheelchair accessible restrooms are present
Thanks for your help!
Sincerely,
Mark Kiser
Birding Trail Coordinator
mark.kiser@myfwc.com
850-488-9478
850-488-9453 FAX
620 S. Meridian Rd. 5B4
Tallahassee, FL 32399
www.floridabirdingtrail.com
This email has been sent to you, because you have shown interest in the Great Florida Birding Trail, a
program of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. If this was sent to you in error, we
apologize for the inconvenience.
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The Great Florida Birding Trail - South Site Managers Listserv
The South Site Managers Listserv (SFBT-L) is for managers of sites in the South Section of the Great
Florida Birding Trail.
This list is maintained by Selena Kiser.
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