To the uninitiated, it might seem out of place, the 4.9-mile stretch of prime, undeveloped Southwest Florida beachfront sandwiched between the last of the towering condos of Fort Myers Beach to the first of a parade of million-dollar homes that line the shores of Little Hickory Island. But when you look closer, right about smack in the middle, there you’ll see it: the inconspicuous entrance to Lee County’s largest Gulf-front park that isn’t an island (honors to Cayo Costa). And large Lovers Key State Park is — a total of more than 1,600 acres, of which almost 800 acres are uplands (meaning the remaining is wetlands). So that begs the question: does size really matter? In this case, most definitely yes, as nearly one million guests enjoyed the park in 2015, or approximately 2,700 visitors every day of the year that the park is open.
been employed by Florida’s Division of Recreation and Parks for 15
years (including a previous stint at another romantically-titled venue, Honeymoon Island State Park in Clearwater). While nodding to the uptick in tourism since 2010, she also notes that Lovers Key is a park where guests can literally vacation for days with all that’s available to enjoy — which is perhaps why the park ranks as the number one Fort Myers Beach area attraction on TripAdvisor. “We’re open from eight am to sunset every day of the year,” she says, “and you most certainly will not be bored.” For beach lovers, Lovers Key offers 2.5 miles of Gulf of Mexico beauty. The park offers recreational rentals including bicycles, paddleboards and kayaks. Boaters can take advantage of a fee-free boat ramp with direct access to Estero Bay for beautiful sightseeing or great fishing (bait shop on-site). If you want to 1
Gloria Beauchamp has served as park manager at Lovers Key for the past five years, and has
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