Exchange Club Park

The Bingham islands are a series of six islands in the Lake Worth Lagoon. The islands house a treasure of trees and plants including a 300 year old Gumbo Limbo tree and 150 year old Sabal Palms. Since 1942 the islands have been a wildlife sanctuary managed by the Audubon Society under a 99 year lease until 2041 from the Bingham Blossom Bolton family. Visitors are not allowed to step foot on the islands or launch from them but you can kayak and canoe between them. As you paddle by you can see coves and tidal pools that shelter native and migratory birds.

Over the years invasive species and garbage have taken over the islands. Years of lightening strikes and hurricanes have made the center of the islands impenetrable. There is however a plan in the works to remove invasive species and replace them with native plants that will restore the islands. Audubon also wants to create an oyster reef that will clean the water of the Lake Worth Lagoon by filtering it. Plans for hiking trails and educational displays have been scraped because Palm Beach zoning won't allow it.

For now the parking lot has been closed and the area is surrounded by a chain link fence with no trespassing signs. There is no way into the area and to make sure no one tries I saw the police keeping a close watch. This may have something to do with the islands close location to Trumps Mar a Lago. It's so close that reporters have used the island to camp out on as they reported on the President. It doesn't seem like anything will be done with area soon. The nearby Snook Islands have been restored to great success. If you look out at them you can see that they are covered in birds and they already have the oyster beds in place. Hopefully something similar is in store for the Bingham Islands.