This 365 acre state-owned, county-managed park is located
at the west end of Snead
Island, which is in the lower end of Tampa Bay between the Manatee River and Terra Ceia
Bay. Emerson Point Park is home to the Portevant Temple Mound, the largest
remaining Indian Mound on Florida's west coast. The Park has two
picnic shelters and several portable restrooms. (For a map of the
Park, click here.) From Port Charlotte, take I-75 north to Exit 224 (Ellenton-Palmetto).
Follow
Route 301 South (actually traveling west in this area) toward Palmetto.
When 301 turns south at Palmetto, leave it by going straight ahead, west
on 10th St. Follow 10th
St. over the bridge to Snead Island. Follow
the signs to the Park. Just over
the bridge, turn right on Tarpon Ave, then left on 17th St, which dead-ends into
the Park.
The Park has a variety of native ecosystems, including
beaches, lagoons, salt marshes, mangrove swamps, grass flats, tropical
hardwood hammocks, hardwood hammocks, and semi-upland wooded areas.
There is a variety of indigenous flora and fauna. You may
see wading birds, such as Egrets (including the Reddish Egret), Herons, Ibises,
and Roseate Spoonbills in the lagoons. You may see shorebirds, such as the
Ruddy Turnstone and Sandpipers along the island shoreline. Several species
of ducks may be observed in the lagoons and on the bay. Along the trails you may see
several different types of Warblers and Woodpeckers.
