Fern Forest Nature Center — Attraction in Coconut Creek

This nature center is around the corner from my house and I have been coming here for years so it will always hold a place in my heart. I primarily come here to run. There is not a lot of visible wildlife compared to some of the other nature centers in the area although I have seen butterflies, raccoons, armadillos, and a really large land turtle on the grassy plains part in the way back.

When you first enter you follow an elevated boardwalk to the two story visitors center. The lower level has a ranger station with some educational displays. To the left is an amphitheater with bench seating. On weekends I have seen folk concerts and weddings held here. Also on the lower level you will find the bathrooms and water fountains. The second floor is a reception area called Royal Fern Hall complete with a kitchen that can be rented for weddings and meetings. Every Halloween they do a nice program for the kiddies up there. Once a week they also offer yoga in the park. There is a sign advertising it at the entrance from Lyons Road.

Once you go around the visitors center you will come to a small gate that will take you out to the paths. The path to the left is the Cypress Creek Trail. It is a half mile elevated boardwalk that loops back around to the start. This is the only good area for a wheelchair. The path to the right takes you over a small bridge and out to the back field and a path that goes through the woods. Here you will find the one mile Prairie Overlook Trail that has a small elevated covered observation platform with benches. Maps for everything are at the visitors center.

If you come here you want to make absolutely sure that nothing is left visible in your car. There has been a number of break ins primarily taking place later in the day towards closing time when there are less people around. You also want to bring some bug spray with you especially if you plan on going through the woods. The last time I was here this month was not bad but I have been here when the mosquitoes were so thick I literally ran for my life. This a great and cheap (no fee) place to relax in nature and decompress from the stress of...

Well maintained, fantastic trails smack in the center of Broward County.

You can do as short as a 1-2 mile hike or stretch it into as many miles as you like.

Trails: The pathways fork into multiple trails you can choose from. All of them have a slightly different feel to it, and it’s definitely well worth exploring each and every one of them. We went in the middle of a weekday between Christmas and New Year and they were plenty of people around!

There is a big rest area with a vending machine for water and soda and also water fountains and well maintained toilets. Closer to the trails you have a hose for cleaning up your boots as well. We also spotted County provided bug and pest repellent but we strongly recommend you bringing your own.

A small backpack with some trail mix, snacks, energy bars and water won’t go amiss for those longer stays.

Clothes and shoes - We spotted plenty of people ambling around in shorts, t shirt and running shoes and I suppose it works for a muggy day or if you’re simply slow walking or bird watching. I’d recommend running pants, tall socks and a full sleeved running shirt to keep the ticks and mosquitoes away. We also ran into some large spider webs along the way.

Trail running shoes will really come in handy if you’re into trail running. The trails are true trails - you have stones, deeply embedded roots, over growth, wet mud and other usual suspects if you’re into trail running.

Bonus: We spotted a bird that seemed to be sleeping as in it wasn’t budging an inch for about ten minutes. One of the bird watchers asked us to download an app called Seek by inaturalist. You open the app, point the in-app camera at the bird (or tree or mushroom or any other nature object) and voila! You get a detailed description of the thing you’re looking at! This was probably the coolest part...

Fern Forest park is a great trailing park, BUT please be careful and BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDING its a huge park and anything can happen, plus there's no camera in the trail or on the overview. Today, 11/27/21 while walking around 1:45pm I was walking at the park enjoying nature, as I was walking I stopped to take some pictures, two young men passed by and they stopped at a distance looking at me, the Indian looking one said something to the Caucasian guy all the sudden my instinct tells me something is wrong and they start walking towards me. I didn't even have time to take pictures , I put my phone in my backpack, started walking in a fast paste. I kept on looking back to see if they were following me and they were. I started running, trying to take shortcuts to lose those two young men. one look Caucasian and the other one look Indian(dark soft skin). As I was running I passed two Samaritans who were enjoying their walk, as I kept looking back to see if the two young men were chasing me. I was going to take an exit and the two young man were there (they didn't see me) so I went back to asked the two Samaritans(elder man and his son ) , if I can walked with them and explained what just happened. They told me that the first time I passed them running they knew something was wrong. They told me don't worry we will protect you and the Samaritans walked me to my car and wait until I left. I called Fern Forest as soon I got home to report the incident but it went to voicemail, I was in shocked that's why I didn't stop by the office to report it. The 2 picture below is from google to indicated where the incident happened. I was getting chased around the overview.... Thank God for the Samaritans, and I believed they will report it regardless. BE...