Bonnet Springs Park Welcome Center — Attraction in Lakeland

We visited Bonnet Springs Park with our grandkids and the whole family, and we had such a fantastic time! The park is huge, spanning over 160 acres, which makes it feel open and never crowded—even on a nice day.

Everything was extremely clean and well-maintained. The kids loved the multiple playgrounds, treehouse, trolley, and open spaces to run around. There are beautiful walking trails, accessible restrooms, and so many kid-friendly features. There’s even a museum and a rooftop bar for adults, which was a fun surprise!

Parking was easy, and the entire layout is designed for convenience and enjoyment. It’s also a great place for flying kites thanks to the open areas and gentle breezes.

It’s no surprise Bonnet Springs was named Best City Park in the U.S. by USA Today’s 10Best for 2025. We’ll definitely be back and highly recommend it to families, nature lovers, and anyone looking for a peaceful, beautiful...

Voted the #1 City Park in the USA for 2025. The only thing you pay for in the park is food & beverages (cashless only) and the Children's Museum. There are free shuttles that you can ride (free) around the 1.8 mile circulator, that stops at various locations around the circulator, i.e. Welcome Center, Children's Museum, Depot (food & bar on 2nd floor), playgrounds, butterfly house, boat house and the spring stream & lagoon. Please be careful around the lagoon as this is Florida and alligators can be in the lagoon. Many places to walk or jog around including a boardwalk and elevated canopy walk. And yes, it is absolutely dog/pet friendly but they MUST be on a leash. The park and parking lot is patrolled by the Polk County Sheriff's Office Volunteers for the safety of all visitors. The park is open in...

It's a beautiful park. However, they fail to think about the families with little kids that want to take the kids to a park so they can enjoy and not walk all around a huge park to see nature. To get from one slide to another slide. The 2-year-old was having a tantrum because there was one slide and we had to walk miles to get to the treehouse. In this heat it's not worth going with young kids when it's so hot in Florida. It's more fun for adults to walk and explore nature. My grandson wasn't happy. The other kids said they didn't enjoy the park. The kids range from 2 through 9 6 children and they all said they didn't like the park. I believe this is more for adults to walk, ride a bike, joggers. Families to sit and picnic. There is a shuttle. Long...