The holiday craziness is over and we are settling back into our regular routine. This fall, I took a couple of trips to see family, cramping Jack and Chloe's style a bit. Although we attended agility and obedience classes and terrier trials this fall, it had been way too long since we ventured out for a park excursion, and even longer since we did a park review.
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| Cypress Point Park Bike Trail |
The weather in Tampa this time of year is what made me want to live here. About 95% of the time while the rest of the country is experiencing winter, we are wearing shorts and flip flops. Today was an especially nice day with low humidity, and I made it home well before sunset, which is more difficult to do at this time of year.
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| Plane Taking Off Over the Park |
So we headed over to Cypress Point Park, a gem of a city park. Tucked away behind an office park less than a mile from Tampa International Airport, Cypress Point is probably the last place you'd expect to find a beach. Well, it is really just two sandy areas along the east side of Old Tampa Bay, but it looks like a beach, with amazing sunset views. There is ample parking (on grass), a short unpaved nature trail, and a 0.9 mile paved bike trail. The bike trail is plenty wide for cyclists to pass anyone on foot, with or without dogs. And you shouldn't have to worry about much traffic on the trail because Cypress Point may well be the city's--or even the county's--most underutilized park.
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| Now Entering Squirrelville |
If you have a squirrel-obsessed dog or a gluttonous Hoover on four legs (I have one of each), be cautious about wandering over to the east side of the park. It is full of palm trees that produce a small berry-like dropping that covers the trail when it falls. And it is overrun by squirrels. But it is a very pretty area.
Although dogs are prohibited on the beach and pier, the west side of the park still provides great views from the bike trail. There is a lot of native vegetation and a large mitigation area...so be on the lookout for wildlife. The experts recommend carrying a noisemaker to scare off coyotes...I haven't researched the sightings in this area, but they are all OVER Pinellas County.
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| Checking out the brush |
Cypress Point Park is located at 5620 W. Cypress St. The park is open sunrise to sunset. There are poop bag stations in a couple of spots. There is no dog run. There are a few picnic tables and a sand volleyball court.
Stay for sunset. It is beautiful. I would recommend bug spray most months due to the tall vegetation, but there were no bugs on this visit. Jack and Chloe give Cypress Point Park a 3 out of 4 paws rating.
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| Sunset at Cypress Point Park |
