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This is a five step multi cache.
Use these coordinates to park/launch:
N 27° 50.665
W 82° 36.662
You will need a kayak or canoe to attack this cache. The four steps to get to the main cache are all NANO micros.
Be careful not to lose #1 or #3.
Be sure you have bug spray for this one.
Bring food, and water, as you will be out for a 1/2 day.
There are lots of fish in these waters, so bring your fishing pole too!
Natural History of Weedon Island
Weedon Island Preserve is an approximately 3,164-acre preserve that extends along the west side of Tampa Bay in Pinellas County. It is the largest estuarine Preserve in Pinellas County, and is predominately comprised of aquatic habitats with mangrove swamps, shoreline, and seagrass beds along the eastern edge of the Preserve. The landward sections of the Preserve contain some xeric and mesic upland communities of pine flatwoods, scrub, scrubby flatwoods, and hammocks. The extensive cultural history of the Preserve helped shape the land with shell middens and mounds as well as a pine timber logging industry and the patchwork of mosquito ditches made in the mid 1900s.
Weedon Island History
Florida’s first inhabitants entered a cool, dry Florida as early as 14,000 years ago. As the climate changed to warm and moist, sea levels rose and coastal conditions developed. Nomadic archaic populations began to settle about 5,000 years ago along the rich estuaries and coastal resources in the central Gulf coast area and became the Manasota cultures. Some 1,800 years ago these sedentary people began to create social structure, ceremonialism, and sophisticated artistic pottery, evolving into the Weeden Island culture lasting some 800 years. Through time the society again changed to eventually become the native population that met the first Europeans. These native peoples were decimated by disease, warfare, and social disintegration brought about by contact with the Spanish. In the mid 1700s, the Creek Indians entered Florida from Alabama and Georgia and eventually became known as the Seminoles. After the Civil War, Weedon Island became the homestead of early settlers and by the 1900s entered a colorful modern history of airports, speakeasies, and Hollywood movies.
Weedon Island Culture
The Weeden Island culture (alternate spelling) derives its name from the type-site located at Weedon Island on the west shore of Tampa Bay. The Weeden Island site is a large shell midden and burial mound complex. The site first gained national attention in the early 1920s when Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Smithsonian Institution excavated a portion of the burial mound. These excavations discovered the finely made and ornately decorated mortuary vessels that archaeologists have come to associate with the Weeden Island culture. William Sears of the Florida State Museum investigated the site again in the 1960s. Sears excavated a small area of shell midden near the burial mound, and there he found many sherds of plain, utilitarian pottery unlike the decorated pottery type recovered by Fewkes. This difference in pottery types in mortuary and domestic contexts is a pattern found at other Weedon Island sites along the central Florida Gulf coast. Recent research indicates that the Weeden Island culture actually may have been centered in north Florida and southern Alabama and Georgia.
Modern History of Weedon Island
After the Civil War, the land now known as Weedon Island was purchased by Captain W. B. Henderson and gifted to his daughter Blanche, on her marriage to Leslie Weedon, a doctor from Tampa. The Weedons used the island as a weekend retreat. In 1923, Weedon sold most of the property to a real estate developer, Eugene Elliot, who advertised the land promoting its archaeological sites. Elliot brought national attention to the prehistoric mounds when Jesse Walter Fewkes, of the Smithsonian Institution did excavations at Weedon Island in the early 1920s. Fewkes named the distinctive pottery he found decorated with punctuated and incised designs the Weeden Island culture, and published a report in 1924 (misspelling Dr. Weedon’s name). Elliot remodeled the Weedon home into a “speakeasy” that later burned to the ground. In 1929, the Grand Central Airport was built on Weedon Island and became the national headquarters of Eastern Air Transport. By the early 1930s a movie studio took over the second “speakeasy” building with short-lived film productions.
Weedon Island Today
The goal of Weedon Island Preserve Management is to effectively coordinate the management of the site’s ecological and cultural resources using methods that promote public education and encourage compatible recreational activities. An active approach to land management includes prescribed burns in natural cycles, selective restoration of mangrove areas affected by mosquito ditches to restore water flow, and getting rid of exotic and invasive plants. Research and species counts are conducted periodically throughout the year.
Visitors to Weedon Island Preserve can enjoy the preserve and its natural wonders through many recreation activities:
A fishing pier
A 45-foot observation tower
6,600 feet of ADA accessible boardwalk with three observation platforms
Paddling trails and launch
Over 3 miles of Hiking Trails
Small picnic areas
Videos and exhibits about the early peoples of Weedon Island and Florida at the Cultural and Natural History Center
Observation decks of the Cultural and Natural History Center
Weedon Island Preserve is open 7 days a week from dawn to dusk
Cultural and Natural History Center is open Wednesday – Sunday, from 10AM to 4 PM
Weedon Island Activities
Weedon Island Preserve Outdoor Activities
Weedon Island Preserve is open to the public from dusk to dawn seven days a week and offers many outdoor activities including Bird and Wildlife viewing from the observation tower, Canoeing, kayaking, fishing, hiking and picnicking. Please review the details below or contact the Center for more information (727) 453-6515.
Canoe Trails
The southern canoe trail is a four-mile loop best accessed next to the fishing pier where there is a formal canoe launch. The trail meanders through mangrove forest, seagrass flats, in between the islands of the Preserve, and along the edge of Tampa Bay. Expect to see wading birds, such as egrets, spoonbills, and white ibis. Occasionally manatee, sharks, and schools of mullet are spotted in the backwaters of the seagrass flats and islands that comprise the Preserve. Don't forget your fishing pole. Redfish, snook, and spotted sea trout fill the waters of Weedon Island.
The northern canoe trail is a one-way trail that originates in an enlarged mosquito ditch at the parking area along the west side of San Martin Blvd. This meanders through mangrove habitat and Snug Harbor before it terminates at the beaches along the Gandy Boulevard. Eventually, we hope to extend this canoe trail underneath the Gandy Bridge and Friendship Trail and connect it to the canoe trail that will be established through the Gateway Tract of Weedon Island Preserve.
Beginning late September 2003, canoe guided trips will be offered through the Weedon Center. You will need to bring plenty of drinking water, mosquito repellent, a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Check the tide charts - the trails are best accessed with higher tides.
Click for tidal information: Tidal Information
Boardwalks and Nature Trails
There are a total of 4.54 miles of hiking trails that meander through representative habitats at the Preserve. Of these, 1.82 miles are handicap accessible - made up of wooden boardwalks or pavement. The boardwalks extend out through the tidal flats and mangrove forests and provide viewing opportunities over saltwater ponds that are often teaming with mullet and wading birds. The paved and unimproved trails extend through the Preserve's upland communities - pine flatwoods, maritime hammock, and scrub.
From the trails, a 45' observation tower can be accessed. On a clear day, this tower provides the visitor with an excellent view of the Preserve as well as Tampa Bay, the City of Tampa, and St. Petersburg.
Picnicking
There are four small picnic areas in the preserve. Each has its own interesting view and a picnic table.
Guided Hikes
Weedon Island Preserve Center offers guided nature hikes every Saturday. To register, just call us at 727-453-6506.
Fishing pier
Redfish, snook, and spotted sea trout are common at Weedon Island. If you don't have a boat, there is a fishing pier and restroom facilities at the southern terminus of the main Preserve road.
Additional Hints
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