Myakka River State Park, in the Sarasota area and extending into southeastern Manatee County, is one of Florida’s largest and oldest state parks at 37,000 acres. Named for the Myakka River, Florida’s first Wild and Scenic River, it reflects a longer human history stretching from Seminole place names and early surveys to nineteenth-century cattle operations and Bertha Palmer’s ranch lands. The park was established through New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps work in the 1930s and opened in 1941. Its varied habitats, notable wildlife, Deep Hole sinkhole, and accessible roads, trails, camps, and canopy walkway have made it one of Florida’s classic inland landscapes.