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By Robert Frederickson
Its observation tower rises 75 feet above the floor of the surrounding live-oak hammock, looking almost other-worldly…like something straight out of James Cameron’s film Avatar. Its 85-foot long suspended walkway sways amid the treetops…much to the delight – and sometimes trepidation – of visitors making their way across. The breathtaking view from the top stretches for miles and is unlike any other in this corner of the world.
“It” is the Canopy Walkway at Myakka River State Park. And this year marks its 10th anniversary.
Dr. Meg Lowman in her element: high in the treetops at the Canopy Walk at Myakka River State Park. Photos by R. Frederickson
Work began on the now iconic Sarasota County landmark in February of 2000. Remarkably, it was built in just ten days, officially opening to the public later that spring. But if things had gone just a bit differently, it might today be located a mere stone’s throw south of downtown Sarasota – drawing ecotourists to the county’s urban core instead of its rural eastern reaches.
“The original idea was to build it at Selby Gardens,” said Dr. Meg Lowman, Director of Environmental Initiatives at New College in Sarasota and driving force behind the project…though she prefers to credit others for much of the success in making the canopy walk a reality.
She points specifically to local commercial realtor Bob Richardson for his fundraising skill and Director Robert Dye (now retired) and Specialist Paula Benshoff of Myakka River State Park for their work addressing the many details and obstacles that accompanied the project. Dye was especially adept at cutting through the seemingly endless red tape encountered at the state level and Benshoff uncovered several local grants that helped provide valuable funding.
The view from the observation deck atop main tower looking down at the suspended walkway.
Countless others in the community were also involved, said Lowman, calling it “a true grassroots effort.” A smile comes to her face as she recalls the dozens of car washes and other fundraising events held to get the project off the ground (in the most literal sense).
But while many can rightfully share in the credit, it was Lowman’s vision that inspired the undertaking throughout.
In the late 1990s, she was the Director of Research at Sarasota’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. As for the early idea of placing the canopy walk there, she recalled in a recent interview how the gardens’ senior management at the time – including then director Mark Bierner – passed on the idea. “They were worried about the impact they thought it would have on the grounds,” she said.
The Selby instead opted for a lower profile – though no less intriguing – canopy walk project. Completed in 1999 and called “Walker’s Walk,” it winds through a stand of giant fig trees near Hudson Bayou. Like the Myakka walkway, it offers visitors an intimate, up close view of the canopy habitat. It also has the advantage of being handicapped accessible, something the Myakka walkway is not. But in terms of sheer scale, it intentionally makes a less dramatic physical statement than its east county counterpart…one more in keeping with its Selby surroundings.
The suspended walkway is 25 feet above the ground and spans 85 feet.
The main tower looks like something straight out of James Cameron's film Avatar.
In large part due to its higher profile – call it the “wow” factor – national and international interest in the Myakka version has grown steadily in the decade since it first opened. According to Lowman, many visitors have remarked that they were drawn to Myakka River State Park mainly to take the “canopy-walk,” as it has become known…and to take in those breathtaking vistas that reward a climb up its 115 steps. It has become something of a pilgrimage for travelers looking for a different kind of vacation adventure.
A highway through the treetops...
“Travel writers love it,” said Lowman. “Articles about it have run in papers and magazines around the world.”
Since admission to the park includes access to the canopy walk, it’s difficult to know exactly how many additional visits the walkway contributes to each year’s total. But the park service’s Benshoff recalls doing a study in 2000 comparing park attendance that summer with figures from the previous three. “The increase was significant,” she said in a recent interview. “More than double as I recall.”
She also remarked how she too has heard the now familiar question: “where’s that canopy walk we’ve heard about?” supporting the notion that many park guests are drawn to the park first and foremost by the walkway’s own distinct allure.
“The parking lot by the trail is full year round,” Benshoff added. “It seems as popular today as it was when it first opened.”
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Recognized internationally for her research on canopy habitat, Lowman was inspired to bring a canopy walk to her adopted hometown of Sarasota through her experience with one built by her alma mater, Williams College, in Massachusetts. Completed in 1992, that structure was the first canopy walkway built in North America. But unlike Sarasota’s two examples, it was conceived primarily as a research facility. It is not routinely open to the public like the ones here.
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That’s not to say the Myakka canopy walkway doesn’t play an important role in research and education as well. The day Lowman was interviewed for this story at the park she was also meeting there with a professor from Baker University in Kansas. Dr. William Miller had come to study microscopic organisms called water bears that live high in the treetops. They are a well-known ‘indicator’ species, so named because they provide valuable insight into the overall health of their surrounding environment.
Lowman also regularly brings her New College students out to the canopy walk for field studies. Even grade school students have gotten involved. Third graders from Mrs. Fugere’s class at Pine View elementary school in Osprey are studying the effects of the invasive Mexican Weevil that has attacked bromeliads that usually thrive in the canopy environment. Mrs. Gould-Olson’s fifth grade class has also used the walkway as an outdoor classroom.
Breathtaking vistas await visitors who make it up the 115 steps to the top of the main tower.
But while research and education are important parts of the canopy walk story, it’s that “wow” factor that has allowed Lowman’s vision to crossover from the world of academia and capture the imagination of a broader public. And that’s no coincidence. Her eyes dance whenever the subject turns to anything that might raise awareness of the natural world that has fascinated her since she was a young girl, prophetically playing with her friends in the tree house behind her Elmira, New York home.
How does the saying go? “The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.”
Sometimes, it’s the same for girls.
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Myakka River State Park is located 9 miles E of I-75 at 13208 State Road 72, Sarasota, FL USA 34241. The park is open everyday from 8:00 AM to Sunset. Admission is $6.00 per vehicle.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is located at 811 South Palm Avenue in Sarasota, Florida, 34236. Admission is $17 for adults, $6 for children 6-11. Children under six are free. Selby Gardens is open every day except Christmas from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
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