Myakka
Paula Benshoff

Paperback
$14.95
ISBN: 1-56164-254-1
Size: 6 x 9
232 Pages
52 photos & line illustrations

Discover the story of the land of Myakka. This book takes you into shady hammocks of twisted oaks and up into aerial gardens, down the wild and scenic river, and across a variegated canvas of prairies, piney woods, and wetlands—all located in Myakka River State Park, the largest state park in Florida. Each adventure tells the story of a unique facet of this wilderness area and takes you into secret places it would take years to discover on your own.

Whether you’re visiting the park for the first time or have frequented the area since childhood, the adventures described here are sure to awaken your primitive instincts to explore the unknown. If you return to the same places at different times of the year, you’ll find enough adventures to last a lifetime. You’ll never be one of those people who ask “What’s there to do in the park today?”

"Most visitors to the park want to know, 'Is this the place where you can ride the airboat?' Many are content just to catch a glimpse of an alligator. But the park offers far more to those who elect to partake of the many adventures Paula Benshoff has penned or embark on their own. Clearly, she is enamored with the park and its environs. You will share her joy in viewing a panorama of prairie wildflowers responding to a fire’s passing and sense her wonderment at how a land can be parched one month and inundated by seemingly endless rainfall (and its ensuing runoff) the next. Hear the sonorous snoring of gopher frogs, the bellowing of alligators, or the bugling trill of sandhill cranes and you will appreciate how she so lovingly describes the park’s many denizens and their habits so that you may find and enjoy them. Each adventure will make you thirst for another." —Robert Dye, Park Manager

Paula Benshoff is a Florida native who grew up in Sarasota when the nearest woods were just down the street and the road to Myakka was a dirt road. She worked as park ranger at Myakka River State Park for fifteen years before assuming the role of park naturalist in 1995.

Paperback $14.95 ISBN: 1-56164-254-1 Size: 6 x 9 232 Pages 52 photos & line illustrations

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