Saddle Creek Park is situated between Winter Haven and
Lakeland in Polk County, Florida. It is managed and
maintained by Polk County Leisure Services who do a great
job of caring for the park. Polk county is in central
Florida and is about half way between Orlando and Tampa.
This website is designed to help people get more familiar
with the park and help them get the most out of their visit
and also to attract new visitors.
It is a great place to visit or stay while on vacation as
well as just spend some time doing one of your favorite
outdoor hobbies, if you live in the local area. It is one of
the largest county parks in central Florida and has
facilities for all the family, whether you just want to
cruise your boat on a beautiful lake, take advantage of some
great fishing, or hike along some wonderful forest trails.
There are also facilities for target shooting, as well as
children's playgrounds, sports facilities and picnic
gazebos. If you love spending time outdoors, you will love
Saddle Creek Park.
Fishing
Fishing is definitely the most common activity of the
regular park visitors. No matter what time of day or year,
you come to the park you will always find someone fishing.
This is not surprising when you discover that Saddle Creek
Park has more lakeside bank fishing available than any other
park or public facility in Polk County. The lakeside areas
are very well maintained and provide very convenient and
easy access for fishing.
Boating
Of the 750 acres that make up the park, most of it is lake.
It is a very interesting and varied lake environment and it
takes a while to get to know it well. There are five boat
ramps available, so there is ample access. There is only one
part of the lake with limited access and that is solely
handled by ramp 4. The other parts of the lakes are all
joined and can be accessed from any of the other four ramps.
The water ways are suitable for both powered boats as well
as canoes. Check out the map page from the link below to see
where the ramps are. Also check the other link to see some
pictures of the park from the boating enthusiasts viewpoint.
Hiking
There are two main trails that are very good for hiking in
Saddle Creek Park. Dogs are allowed on the trails, but no
motorized vehicles are permitted. The Nature trail is the
main trail on the park and the other Trail is not strictly
part of the park but access to the trail is from Saddle
Creek.
Nature Trail
The Nature Trail is approximately 1.2 miles in length.
However, since it dead-ends and does not loop, then the full
hike is more like 2.4 miles. It is very broad and is well
maintained and is an easy hike which will take approximately
1 hour to complete
Tenoroc Trail
Although the entrance to this trail is part of Saddle Creek,
it is actually part of the Tenoroc fish management area. To
that point, there is an entrance fee ($3), that you self pay
when entering the trail. Until just recently no fishing was
allowed in the Lake the trail surrounds, however it is now
open and as long as people have a Florida fishing license
they are able to fish in the lake. There is also an entrance
open at the north side from Saddle Creek Road that allows
access.
There are two parts to the Tenoroc trail, the first part you
come to is called the Lake Loop and is 1.2 miles, the second
part is called the Flatwoods Loop and that is 1.1 miles.
Overall it takes about 1hr 15mins to hike the trail. This
trail is far narrower than the Nature Trail and has more ups
and downs. It is a little harder to hike and has closer
exposure to nature and wildlife. The Lake Loop is mostly
shaded, but the Flatwoods trail is far more open.
Camping
The campgrounds are situated in a lakeside area with shade
provided by large oak trees. There are electricity and water
hookups and there is usually a mixture of people just
camping with tents or in full-sized campers. You are
certainly able to relax next to your camping area, and fish
for bass or just watch the sun set over the lakes.
There is also some lakeside and some short trails that are
accessed from the campgrounds and are not commonly used by
the general members of the public who come to the park. |
