From hands-on encounters at the Nature Center to scenic trails, the park offers a unique way to connect with Florida's natural environment
For more than four decades, Upper Tampa Bay Conservation Park has provided residents and visitors with a place to explore, learn about, and connect with the natural environment. Founded in 1982, the park was created to provide a protected area for the study of nature and for recreation while helping preserve important coastal habitats.
Today, the nearly 600-acre conservation park remains a destination where visitors can experience a wide variety of Florida ecosystems and the wildlife that calls them home.
Start your adventure at the nature center
A visit to Upper Tampa Bay Conservation Park can begin at its Nature Center, the only Hillsborough County nature center featuring living animals.
Visitors can get an up-close look at fish, including clownfish and regal blue tang, as well as an eel, turtles, and a variety of snakes. Along with its live animal displays, the Nature Center features interpretive exhibits that help tell the story of the park's environment, geology, history, and the land that became the conservation park visitors enjoy today. The story of the land stretches back much further than the park's founding. Indigenous people lived and fished in the area for thousands of years, and more than 20 known archaeological sites remain within the park.
A place to explore on land and water
Whether visitors are looking to spend the day hiking, paddling, fishing, or enjoying a picnic, Upper Tampa Bay Conservation Park offers plenty of ways to get outside. Nature trails and boardwalks take visitors through a variety of habitats, offering opportunities to spot wildlife along the way. Canoes and kayaks can be rented at the Nature Center, providing access to Double Branch Creek and Tampa Bay. The park also offers a playground, picnic areas, and docks where visitors can fish.
The park's diverse habitat means wildlife can be found at any turn. Keep an eye toward the sky for birds such as ospreys, red-shouldered hawks, or even bald eagles. On the ground, visitors may encounter gopher tortoises and other reptiles, while the park's waters and wetlands support fish and attract manatees as well as other aquatic wildlife.
A safe place for wildlife to return home
The park's protected and natural habitats make it an ideal setting for the release of rehabilitated wildlife. When animals such as bobcats or eagles have recovered from injuries and are ready to return to the wild, they need a suitable habitat with food sources, shelter, and space away from heavy development to successfully transition back into the wild. The park's combination of coastal, wetland, and upland habitats provides those essential conditions, giving rehabilitated wildlife an opportunity to return to a landscape ideal to support native species.
The releases are also a reminder of the importance of conservation areas. Protected lands don't just provide scenic places for people to visit; they provide critical homes and resources for the animals that depend on them.
Prescribed burning helps keep the park healthy
Prescribed burns are an important land\-management tool used on Hillsborough County conservation lands to maintain healthy, fire-dependent ecosystems. The carefully planned burns safely reduce excessive amounts of brush, leaves, branches, and other vegetation that can build up over time and become fuel for more dangerous wildfires.
Prescribed burns can also encourage new and varied growth of native vegetation, cycles nutrients back into the soil, and help maintain the plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire. By managing vegetation and reducing excessive fuel, prescribed burns also help maintain accessible and enjoyable spaces for recreation. The burns are conducted by trained professionals under carefully developed plans that account for conditions such as weather, fuel, and wildlife safety. The result is a healthier landscape that supports both the wildlife that calls the park home and the visitors who experience it.
A landscape worth fighting for
Whether you're visiting the Nature Center, hiking a trail, or casting a fishing line, Upper Tampa Bay Conservation Park offers a chance to experience one of Hillsborough County's important natural spaces.
Learn more about the history of the land and the fight to protect it. Be sure to sign up for The Trailblazer newsletter, the first source of information about upcoming guided programs such as hikes, kayaking trips, kids' programs, festivals, and more.