McIntosh Preserve
In 2021, 2.2 miles of trail, a 30 foot observation tower, parking, and educational signage were added to approximately 50 upland acres on the property, provided by a $300,000 State of Florida Legislative Appropriation Grant which the City matched. As noted below, more improvements are coming over the next few years, so stay tuned!
Named one of three "birdability" sites in the Tampa Bay area by the Tampa Audubon Society for its ADA accessibility! More information is available at the Birdability site.
The Preserve is open daily from sunrise to sunset. Round trip on the trail from the parking area to the Osprey Overlook observation tower is 1.5 miles, so be prepared and take water with you. From the tower area, the other trails are accessible. See the trail map on this page.
HISTORY
The +/- 363 acre McIntosh Preserve was purchased in 1998 for $1.1 million by the Florida Communities Trust and the Hillsborough County Environmental Land Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP). It was then deeded to the City of Plant City for permanent use as an educational and environmentally protected park. In 2005, the eastern 100 acres of the Preserve, a former grassy meadow used as pasture land, was converted into a prairie wetland at a cost of $2.5 million, mostly with grant money in a cooperative effort between local, county, state and federal agencies to improve water quality throughout the eastern Hillsborough County area.
The prairie wetland area is capable of removing up to 50% of the pollutants going into the Hillsborough River from northeast Hillsborough County. The Eastside Canal, which flows into river tributaries known as Itchepackesassa Creek and Blackwater Creek, will flow through this wetlands area before arriving at the Hillsborough River at Two Rivers Ranch. The Eastside Canal drains 6,300 acres of urban and rural land in and around Plant City.
WHAT TO SEE
The Preserve is home to various vegetative communities, with both wetlands and uplands present, with cypress, mixed wet hardwoods, pine, magnolia, and hardwood conifers along with pickerelweed, saw palmetto, spikerush, ferns, primrose, wax myrtle and more. Many different wildlife are on the property, including visual verification of species such as bald eagles, red shouldered hawks, blue herons, snowy egrets, red headed woodpeckers, quail, deer (3 does and a buck have been seen), American alligators, raccoons, fox squirrels, bobcat, and a couple of suspected Florida panther sightings.
FUTURE
Future plans for the property include the development of an Integrated Water Management System which uses wetlands to receive and hold both stormwater as well as the City's reuse water, allowing both to recharge the Floridan aquifer. The enhanced wetlands will clean the stormwater of pollutants and nutrients while on the property, with excess water returning to the Eastside Canal, making its way eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. They will also help with stormwater flooding in the area from the Eastside Canal by creating more capacity to receive and temporarily store rainwater runoff. The new wetlands will include walking trails, a boardwalk, and observation towers for the public to enjoy.
