Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson State Park

Lovers Key State Park
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)

Location	Lee County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Bonita Springs, Florida
Coordinates	26°23′38″N 81°52′44″W / 26.39389°N 81.87889°W / 26.39389; -81.87889Coordinates: 26°23′38″N 81°52′44″W / 26.39389°N 81.87889°W / 26.39389; -81.87889
Area	712 acres (2.88 km²)
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Lovers Key State Park is a 712-acre (2.88 km²) Florida State Park located on Lover's Key and three other barrier islands—Black Island, Inner and Long Key. It is at 8700 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach, between Big Carlos Pass and New Pass and 10.5 miles (16.9 km) west of Interstate 75 on exit 116. The park lies within the city limits of Bonita Springs and is just north of Bonita Beach. The park uses a Fort Myers Beach zip code for address purposes.

Activities include shelling, swimming, picnicking, boating, and sunbathing, as well as canoeing/kayaking, hiking, bicycling and wildlife viewing. Among the wildlife of the park are West Indian manatees, bottlenose dolphins, marsh rabbits, and over 40 bird species, including roseate spoonbills, osprey, Snowy Egret, bald eagles, and American Kestrel. Black Island has woodpeckers, hawks, owls and warblers.

Amenities include a two mile (3 km) long beach on Lovers Key. Black Island has over five miles (8 km) of multiuse trails; bicycle, canoe, and kayak rentals, gazebo, picnic areas, boat ramp, and two playgrounds. The park is open from 8:00 am till sundown year round.

Gallery

The entrance along the Bonita Beach Causeway
South side of park
South side of park
Bayside entrance
North side of park
North side of park
North side of park

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References

Lovers Key State Park at Florida State Parks
Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson State Recreation Area at Absolutely Florida
Lovers Key State Recreation Area at Wildernet
[1] DEP confirms park in city limits (page 1) - December 2005

Protected Areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Highlands Hammock Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson Mike Roess Gold Head Branch Navarre Beach North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Ravine Gardens River Bluff Picnic Site Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Upper Tampa Bay Park Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Washington Oaks State Gardens

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Econfina River Guana River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Silver River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Springs Manatee Springs Rainbow Springs Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Dead Lakes Dunns Creek Gamble Rogers Memorial Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Honeymoon Island Oleta River Perdido Key Ponce de Leon Springs St. Andrews Three Rivers

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie State Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Little Salt Spring Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Grassy Lake Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast State Trail Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Public Lands Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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Last modified on 20 May 2013, at 17:16