In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain article from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

Years ago we camped at Oscar Scherer because we couldn’t get into the Myakka River campground (which was flooded). I returned here with the kiddos to get our stamp and to get reacquainted with the park, plus 3/4 of my kids never visited here.

I was pleasantly surprised by this little known state park, situated on the Gulf. No white sandy beaches here! Instead it was filled with springs, mangroves and hiking trails.

Everybody needs a quest in their life, mine is to visit all 175 Florida State Parks. This has been a goal of mine since the first time I set foot in Hillsborough River State Park (my first park) and realized that these places still have the old magic.

Myakka River State Park is one of the biggest (37,000 acres), oldest (established February 18, 1941), and best (see article below) Florida State Parks to visit and camp at.

We must have been insane to camp here during the middle of the summer. The campgrounds were flooded, the no-see-ums were horrendous and we slept terrible, but still…

Since I obtained the state park passport book I’ve been revisiting a lot of state parks I’ve been to in the past in order to collect the stamp and to enjoy the park once again.