Alderman's Ford Conservation Park

Beautiful and lots to do for all ages. Structures, picnic tables, play areas and a trail with several wooden bridges, nice climbs for those who miss the rolling hill of northern states. 1.8 mile trail can be extended to 2.3 if you cut over onto the boardwalk side trail (no bikes allowed). The trail also offers challenge stations like pull ups and sit ups at different points. My son and I just biked it twice and got an exceptional workout. The bridges over the river are quite steep at points. It’s a one way trail and you may run into those with children and strollers so please slow down and say “on your left” if you choose to bike this trail. This is the actual park, unlike the nature preserve a couple miles away which can get confusing. This park requires $2 and has an automated machine to take cash and I believe card as well.

Lots of trees, good length walking trail to a creek. Good walk with kids, not too far. Best to do when heat is lower. Signs for gators around but it was very dry so no water around the walkway and no gators ever seen by the the creek at the end of the trail. Peaceful walk.

As a family, we’ve been coming to Aldermans Ford Park for many years, including a little breath of fresh air today. I love the fact that it has a long enough, but not too long paved loop, which is great for kids on bikes, strollers, and wheelchairs.. There’s always something to see – alligators, turtles, birds and little critters running around. Everything here seems to be well maintained, bathrooms clean, and plenty of space for picnics and a wide open grassy area at the main area of the park where the playground is located. I love the fact that it’s only two dollars per vehicle to come in, which it has been for years. On my visit today due to the season and lack of rain the areas that normally have water in them were definitely more dried up, although the Alafia River itself was flowing nicely. I like coming here during the wetter season because when you walk the boardwalk, you are walking over the water and you can see a lot more activity with birds and alligators and turtles. However, coming here any time of the year is always beautiful, and this park is a little treasure in our neck of the woods, no pun intended! I haven’t actually been here for maybe a year, but I noticed that there are markers along the trail with QR codes that you can scan which will give you trail maps and an audio tour about the park, which is really lovely.

If you’re coming for a walk, the paved trail is a 1.8 mile loop and is lovely… but even better is the blue hiking trail loop- it’s not paved and was nice and quiet (we didn’t meet/pass anyone else on this trail) and it has a great mix of terrain! There’s sections on a wide trail, a little bit of elevation, another section with a bit of logs and roots to step around (single file width) and an open section kind of like a meadow that ran along a large commercial vegetable farm separated by a wire fence (very pretty) It’s about 2.4 miles for this blue trail, so we did this and added the paved 1.8 loop to extend our visit a bit. On the paved trail we passed several other people, a few dogs, and a few bicyclists, but there were probably extra people out today due to the cool weather and it being Black Friday. The kids playground looked great- I counted at least 3 sections of equipment just to the left of the parking area. They were the most crowded part of the park. Restrooms were found at 2 different parts on the paved trail (well thought out, lol) The park is dog friendly (on a leash, of course) and there are doggy bag/bin stations along the paved trail. So for the $2 admission per vehicle to the park, it was definitely well worth it and I do recommend a visit! 😊

Gorgeous county park with a fantastic paved trail along the Alafia River and through the woods with several restrooms along the way. Really nice well-maintained rustic trails as well, plus a great canoe launch. Lots of shelters and picnic tables available. Dog friendly throughout. Excellent park, highly recommended.