Lake Dan Nature Preserve

"Beautiful preserve! A nature trail with a boardwalk and a toddler playground area. We had a great time. No restroom!"

"The highlight of the hike is definitely lake Dan itself. The first part of the trail is shaded some after that it's completely open. The path to the lake is a little boring, mostly it's an old farm road between 2 grassy fields . The other trail is also mostly open and it was also mostly mucky and parts were completely underwater"

"Had a good time walking around and fishing with the kids. Lots of wildlife and we caught a few bowfin. I wish that there was a bathroom or at least a portable bathroom somewhere onsite and a water fountain. I had seen online that it was a .8 mile hike to get to the 2nd lake, Lake Dan, but it ended up being 1.25 miles so keep that in mind if needed. We were there for 6 hours and only saw one other couple so it was nice and secluded. The playground is small, but the kids still enjoyed it. There is one covered picnic table. Youtube: Eby Outdoors Youtube: Farmhouse in the Suburbs Instagram: @ebyoutdoors"

"We visited as part of the 2021 Hillsborough Hiking Spree and hiked the West Spur Trail. This experience was a bit of a mixed bag from a casual visitor's perspective. Straight from the trailhead you pretty quickly enter a lush oak hammock followed by a beautiful and well-maintained boardwalk. From here we could spot egret, ducks, anhinga, and a glossy Ibis (a rare find for me personally). All was looking wonderful. Then you soon reach a point where the trail branches out in two directions. One way, you walk through loose sand then a long stretch of mowed grass fields to a pier on a small lake. Here we observed a hunting pelican, which was very neat to see. There is also a well-defined cypress dome in this area that would serve as a good reference of this natural occurrence. As you return to the fork and head out the other direction, the trail loops around on a somewhat marshy road around palmetto scrub. We did not see much additional wildlife, though we visited during full daylight and didn't expect to. Overall the trails would be well suited to a jog on a cool dry day, but would likely be problematic for motion impaired, and uncomfortable in full sun or buggy seasons."

"Big park. Long open trail. Dont go after it rains. It gets muddy. I would wait a few days till it dries. There was water almost to our knees. Nice view of the lake. Great for equestrian but there are areas that dont allow horse for some reason. We saw wild life. Huge doe."