Subi & The 5

Collier-Seminole State Park – Naples, Florida

Collier-Seminole State Park is located on US 41 (Tamiami Trail) and is about 20 minutes southwest of Naples, Florida. It is situated in a mangrove swamp, cypress swamps, salt marshes, and pine flatwoods. There are a few hiking trails, a boat ramp, a canoe trail, a boardwalk, and a variety of wildlife including panthers, black bears, and alligators.

Campground: Collier-Seminole State Park
Location: About 15 miles southwest of downtown Naples
Site:  100 (back-in)
Cost: $35.83
Services:  E/W 50AMP
Comments: A crowded campground with sites close together but with easy access to either Big Cypress Preserve and/or Naples. Choose your site wisely. Our site, 100, seemed to be one of the better wide sites and more delineated than other sites.

Many sites are crammed together with very little delineation. The campground was full when we were there and quite active with people walking, playing guitars, singing, and campfires.

The state park has a few interesting sites to visit.

Barron Collier Memorial

There is a memorial with a statue commemorating Barron Collier who owned a million acres here in the 1920’s. Collier’s hope was to have his land be a national park but the federal government did not accept it and it eventually became a county park and then turned over to the state in 1944.

The Blockhouse

This building was built around 1940 as the park caretaker’s residence and was designed to look like a Third Seminole War (1855-1858) blockhouse (fortification).

Seminole Indian Village

Walking Dredge

The Bay City Walking Dredge is located at the state park and was used to help build a 50-mile section of the Tamiami Trail. Workers built over a mile a month and worked 18 hour days. In 1929, the 273 mile road from Tampa to Miami (The Tamiami) officially opened. The dredge was officially declared a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1994.

We were so busy with other activities (next post) that we did not get a chance to hike all the trails around the park or go canoeing here. Maybe next time.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.