I'll start with the pros of this park before I get to the cons. Werner Boyce Salt Springs State Park, Port Richey, Florida DATE: December 12, 2021 TEMP: cool, foggy in the early part. Warm and sunny later. First, it is a beautiful park with some lovely trails, most of them fairly easy to walk. It's along water for many of the trails and most of these waters are springs, salt springs in particular. Walking past them and hearing the bubbling of the springs can get you confusing that for fish jumping (which also happens). We got there on a foggy morning, and went to find the trail we wanted to walk which would take us through most of the springs areas and end at a tidal waterfall. The springs all along the way, and the trails themselves, though higher grass, were okay trails (some needed to be mowed down a little bit). We saw some sparrows (not sure what kind, I have not gotten the knack of identifying sparrows down any better than I have the knack of identifying warblers), saw a pileated woodpecker (last one we saw was at Hillsborough River State Park) and we heard, but did not see, a Gray Catbird doing it's mewing call. We have not physically laid eyes on a catbird since the one that ushered us out of Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in 2020. It's rare for them to show themselves. But sometimes, some birds seem to seek me out. It seemed true the day at Homosassa Springs as it kept flitting in a bush beside us as chattering at us and making its meowing sounds. We also heard and saw ospreys. Werner Boyce has a trail that leads to an eagle's nest, but we didn't walk that. I said we'd go back to walk it sometime, and we possibly will go back just to walk that trail...and carefully walk it (see cons). They also have an eagles nest display on the trail we were on and it was freaking HUGE! There's no ranger station at Werner Boyce, so you have to pay at this honor system booth when you come in. I'm not sure how that's going to work now that we have an annual family pass, gifted to me by my coworkers for Christmas. But no ranger means there's no one really watching what goes on in the park. And there's more to be said about the conduct of humans at this park than the wildlife. And not much of it good. We did meet a great young family fishing who showed us where the tidal waterfall was (it isn't very big, just some water rushing over some rocks but that counts as a waterfall). Falling Waters State Park in Chipley would like a word about that. But the humans we didn't meet are the ones that made this park kind of a downer. Rant forthcoming. First, a disclaimer. I love dogs. I don't have any because I KNOW I'M IN NO SHAPE TO CLEAN UP AFTER THEM. I also just love cats more. Dogs love me too. My problem isn't with the dogs that go to nature parks, though I have to say the loud ones probably scare away much of the interesting wildlife. The low easy trails and no ranger on site are two reasons why I have my major con with this park There have been county and local area parks we've visited that we've said "Ok, kinda nice, but we won't go again..." The reason? Dog shit...EVERYWHERE. It's not so bad when you can see it and there isn't much of it to deal with (still pretty damn crappy of the lazy humans who profess themselves dog lovers and are constantly posting about parks that take dogs or don't take them). When you don't realize you have stepped in a messy pile of dog shit until after you get in the car or when you get home, or even before...if you've gotten nothing to clean your shoes with, that's a freaking problem. Again. Not the dog's fault. It's the fault of lazy owners who shouldn't have dogs. At Werner Boyce are stations at the beginning of the trail with repurposed grocery bags people have stocked there just for folks to use to clean up after their dogs. They were full of bags and there was dog shit all over, much of it on the overgrown parts of the trail where you couldn't see it. Therefore, I seemed to step in a lot of it. Because of this, I have started a spreadsheet on Google to list the parks that do NOT allow dogs. There are a few. Once in awhile, I like a mess-free, and wildlife-full hike. There are parks where people have more sense and care than this, but so far, I've seen two parks that were littered with dog poop. More than at other parks I've been to. Werner Boyce was good for the experience, but it is not a large park, and we probably saw the best trail of it the day we went (the trail in orange below). All in all, it's worth the trip to see the bubbling salt springs, but be careful where you step if trail is a little overgrown.
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