Eric

Review of Arthur R. Marshall Foundation

A great scenic nature walk for families, bird watc...

A great scenic nature walk for families, bird watchers, nature photographers, anglers, or anyone wanting to enjoy what Florida has to offer. Before visiting, you will wan to make sure you have cash on hand to pay the park entrance, as well as a pen so you can write down your info on the pay slip. The entrance fee is on the honor system and you deposit your cash in an envelope into a receptacle at the gate. They also don't provide pens or pencils to write your info. The marsh trail is a gorgeous walking trail. The park does offer some guided tours on a golf cart, but its best done by foot. There's tons of wildlife to be seen. There are small canals that run along the trail, and I've caught a lot of bass in them at times. There WILL be alligators in the small canals right next to the trail. They don't bother you at all unless you catch a fish. Then they come looking for an easy meal (your fish, not you). Be prepared to come relatively close to the gators, but as long as you observe and don't do anything foolish, they just sit like statues. The boat ramp can get crowded on the weekends. Week days are usually pretty tame. Lots of pleasure craft flock to the water on the weekends, so if you plan on fishing, keep in mind you will cross paths with boaters that are not up to speed on proper boating etiquette when passing another boat who's fishing. The levee is great for riding bikes. You can go farrrrrrrrrr. You can go from Boca Raton, all the way to West Palm Beach on the levee, so plan accordingly. There are other trails that run north from the main entrance road. These are also good too for hiking and mountain biking. The horse flies can get quite bad at certain times of year, and they seem to be impervious to bug repellant. If you keep moving its not so bad. There are farms and a lot of private land surrounding the area, so its not uncommon to hear the landowners partaking in some target practice with firearms. Don't be alarmed. The woods between the trail and their land provides a huge backstop. You'd have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning twice than an incident with pass through occurring. I can't comment on the restroom situation as nature's never called during my visits, but don't expect there to be many amenities. There's a kayak rental business near the boat ramp as well. The kayak trail is quite long. If you're not experienced it can take a long time to complete the trail. If you do plan on tackling the trail, get there early, pack some drinks and lunch, and you'll do fine. The difficult part about the kayak trail are the lily pads. They create a lot of friction on the kayak and require some effort to paddle through. There can be long sections covered in pads. Otherwise its a great paddle in some gorgeous scenery. Overall this is one of my top nature trails/parks in Palm Beach County to visit.