jay b. starkey wilderness park

I like to bike the 6.5 bike, walking trail. I actually bike ten miles from my house to get to the park and ride the trail and back and then home again (about 33-34 miles total for me). I really like the trail, it is quiet and you are surrounded by pine trees and palmettos. I go there about once a month or every other month. It can be VERY HOT in the summer, so bring water etc. There are parking lots if you just want to walk or bike the trail. There is a Educational/learning center there also for school field trips etc. At the park is a big playground for the little ones and lots of picnic tables in covered areas with parking there too. My first time in the park was for a birthday party, that was nice. there is a $2 Parking fee. Nice bathrooms too. A very well kept park in SW Pasco County just off of the north end of Starkey Blvd. This park connects with the 41 mile long Suncoast Parkway Trail at the end-turnaround of the bike trail about half way between Sate Road 52 and State Road 54.

Wonderfull place to hike and see nature. Plenty of trails. I would definitely comeback again. The kids had a blast. Plenty of wildlife.

We went on a hike to this park today. What a beautiful day. It's so serene and quiet. Weird, we really didn't see much wildlife, but we stayed on the trails. We did get to see 2 gopher tortoises! There's a lot of things to do at this park. You could spend an entire day! This park does make me think of the Friday the 13th movies!

I have been visiting this park since it opened. It has a variety of great hiking and birding trails as well as newly add off-road bicycling trails as well as a paved bike trail ( my favorite thing) that connects to the Suncoast trail. You can witness a large variety of Floirda wildlife from Gopher tortoises to deer, squirrels ( I've spotted the worlds largest black squirrel out there twice .lol)wild turkeys as well as the occasional otter and bobcat

A very serene place, lots to do. There's a children's play area, a bike and hike path, a learning center. Highly recommended.

Only a few minutes from downtown New Port Richey, this park has a good range of activities and services. Including trail hiking and wildlife viewing, biking on and off paved trails, camping and cabin rentals and great place to relax for a day or more. We ride bikes and really enjoy the extensive paved trail that connects to other trails. All for a couple of dollars a day. Overall a big plus for the area and outdoor entusiasts.

We only went through a portion of the park, what we did go through had a lake, a stream, wildlife, and lots of different plants! It was nice to change up scenery and see something we don't see everyday for a very low price ($2.00)

We've nicknamed it "turtle park" as we always see a large number of turtles as we drive through. They have a nice campground and picnic area throught the park. Many hiking trails available. We've seen deer wild turkeys turtles rabbits and many different species of birds.

$2.00 gets you into the park for hiking, biking, camping in cabins and wildlife viewing. We walked the Solar system bike trail which is paved and easy to do. The solar system trail present signs along the route that give info about each planet from the Sun to Pluto. You could spend all day here. the park is very large and offers something for every nature lover. We would have waked further, but we had to meet friends for dinner so our time was limited. We were told that that there many deer, Florida panthers and even a black bear who resides in this park with other small critters and, birds, fish and amphibians. Take a few hours and experience nature.

We rode bikes you the Suncoast Bike Trail and back, 14 miles. It was a busy day with lots of hikers, and bikers. I would recommend this for both but bring your own water and snacks/picnic. Lots of tables with shade for resting.

Something for everyone...hike, bike,camp, playground, picnic, horseback trail, wildlife....bring your own water.Park staff on site,$2 park fee (exact cash or debit/credit card)

I went to the park for the biking/hiking wilderness trail and loved it. Quiet, well maintained, incredible staff and the trail was a bonafide wilderness experience. The bike trail connects to the Sun Coast Trail which is a huge bonus for cyclers.

Beautiful area, we went to walk the bike trail. It was a wonderful walk, we saw a pair of Blue Birds and a deer. Very easy walking, trail marked with mile and 1/2 mile markers. We will return. Lots of bikers, stay to the right at all times. $2 entry fee, worth it. Look for the 'Solar Trail' entrance to the bike trail.

My family and I visited Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park for the first time since moving to the area earlier in the year. When you enter the park, there is a $2 fee. Most other Pasco County parks have a pay station where you park first, then go to the station where you drop your money in, grab a pass and put it on your dash. This park has an electronic pay station you feed your money into upon arriving. It's not a problem, except when I fed my money in, it dispenses the pass way down closer to the ground. I was in a mini van and it was impossible, even with my seat belt off to reach through the window to grab the pass. Be sure you allow a little extra room to open your door to reach your pass!After that there was no immediate map or signage posted. We just followed the road to see where it led us not really sure where we were going. We finally made it to the kiosk where we were able to pick up a map (and other literature) but honestly, the map was not much of a help. The quality was very poor and pretty much impossible to read.We continued driving around just sort of exploring on our own not really sure where we were headed. Along the way we saw a couple good sized turtles crossing the road that we all got a kick out of! We finally saw some signage for a playground. With small kids in tow we pulled in to let them play. It was a very nice area with a few different play structures.We eventually wandered into some of the trails nearby just to enjoy a nature walk. The trails were not long making it easy for little feet. The only wildlife we saw were more turtles, but I'm sure with how loud my kids are they could have easily scared away other animals!On our way out we noticed other facilities such as cabin rentals, equestrian area (bring your own horse), biking trails, etc. Overall it was a good visit. It would remind you of other parks up and down the gulf coast. However, this is a much larger park and of course it does not sit on the gulf, so no real water views.If you found this review helpful, please let me know by clicking the button below! I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

love the bike trail, and always a chance encounter with wild life flora and fauna, connects to sun coast parkway