Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park spans about 46,000 acres across islands and mainland tracts around Charlotte Harbor in southwest Florida, forming a broad protected landscape of shoreline, estuary, and island habitats. Interlaced with the harbor’s coastal waters, it helps protect several connected aquatic preserves, including Gasparilla Sound/Charlotte Harbor, Cape Haze, Matlacha Pass, and Pine Island Sound. Its importance lies in conserving a large stretch of the harbor environment rather than a single site. Recognized as site 22 on the southern section of the Great Florida Birding Trail, it also supports birdlife and wetland habitats while offering low-impact recreation such as boating, paddling, fishing, and hiking.