Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

View of downtown St. Petersburg from boardwalk over protected wetlands

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is a 245-acre (99 ha) protected area in St. Petersburg, Florida, Pinellas County, Florida.^[1] The preserve is located on the shores of Lake Maggiore in south St. Petersburg. Operated by St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation, it includes over 3 mi (4.8 km) of trails through a variety of natural communities: lake, freshwater marsh, and swamp; pine flatwoods and scrub; and hardwood hammock. Common wetland plants include red maple, giant leather fern, lizard's tail, willow, and bald cypress. Upland species include saw palmetto, live oak, cabbage palm, bracken, goldenrod, and three pine—sand, longleaf, and slash. Migratory birds and other wildlife rely on Lake Maggiore as a food source.^[2]^[3] Facilities include a playground and picnic areas. The preserve is used for school field trips and hosts environmental education programs. It is located at 1101 Country Club Way South.

A longtime resident of St. Petersburg, the late Paul Eppling used recycled metal and scrap metal to make sculptures. Boyd Hill Nature Preserve has seven of his sculptures: Narcissus from Greek mythology in the parking lot, a similar figure in a tree behind the environmental center, a glass-top table inside the environmental center, two large armadillos near Wax Myrtle Pond, a heron near Lake Maggiore Island, and another bird in front of Boyd Hill's aviary, where injured raptors are cared for.^[4]^[5]

References

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^ "Boyd Hill Nature Preserve". Florida Hikes. Florida Hikes. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
^ "Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - St. Petersburg, Florida". stpete.org. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
^ "Boyd Hill Nature Preserve". St. Petersburg Parks & Recreation. St. Petersburg, Florida: City of St. Petersburg. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
^ "Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Trail Map" (PDF). St. Petersburg Parks & Recreation. St. Petersburg, Florida: City of St. Petersburg. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 10, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
^ Cobb, Carlene (January 12, 2024). "Exploring Arts and Nature at Boyd Hill". Creative Pinellas. Largo, Florida: Creative Pinellas. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2025.

External links

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Boyd Hill Nature Preserve website
Boyd Hill Nature Preserve website St. Pete Parks and Recreation
A map of the preserve

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National Estuarine Research Reserves	Apalachicola Guana Tolomato Matanzas Rookery Bay
National Fish Hatcheries	Welaka
National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National Marine Sanctuaries	Florida Keys
National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National Preserves	Big Cypress Timucuan Ecological
National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National Trails	Florida
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River
National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Three Sisters Springs Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other	National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks National Register of Historic Places Wilderness Areas

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Price's Scrub Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Marks River St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Addison Blockhouse Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Blowing Rocks Boyd Hill Corkscrew Swamp Gumbo Limbo Moccasin Lake Weedon Island

27°43′59″N 82°39′29″W / 27.733°N 82.658°W / 27.733; -82.658