A.L. Anderson Park — Attraction in Tarpon Springs

My wife and I decided to rent one of the shelters for our daughter's 1st birthday party. I was a bit shocked to find out that it was $30 for the shelter. I figured that it would be worth it considering it was for the whole day and I used to fish at that shelter as a kid. We bought worms and my year old son was excited to catch bluegill with his daddy. We pulled in, to find a sign for the shelter at the parking lot saying that shelter 9 was reserved (no name). We got to the shelter and saw a sign. Not the a reserved sign like we had expected, but instead, a no fishing sign. My son and I were pretty upset but, we were there for my little girl's party anyways. We had a good time, people showed up and stayed for a few hours. As people started to leave, several others, not from our party, began to come over to look at the water. Since there was no reserved sign at the shelter and they had walked in from the other side, we had to continually tell people that we had paid to reserve the shelter. As my mother in law, wife and children and I sat there, a German shepherd came running up; followed shortly thereafter by a family. My mother in law asked if they knew who's dog it was and if it should be on a leash? They told us it was theirs, he was fine and that it was a dog park. My mother in law told them that we didnt know that and had small children. She informed them that the dog park was on the other side and that dogs could not be off of their leash outside of that. They argued and eventually moved a short ways away to the playground. We tried to find a park ranger but there were none around and we could not get a phone number to contact anybody. A while later, my wife took my son to the playground to play. A few minutes later they came back and she told me that the dog had growled at him and some of the other children. I decided that we had had enough and after 4 hours, we packed up and left. If you want to reserve a shelter for something, find...

What a beautiful park! It’s massive, so at first we parked on the side where the playground was on our first visit, the kids loved it, small but mighty and impeccable views even from the playground area. There’s tons of interactive things for the kids to do on the playground and interesting climbing structures. There was some invent going on when we went the first time but that didn’t stop us from having fun as the park really is so vast. There’s a lot of rest areas, bathrooms, water fountains, fields, and walkways. We were a little under the weather and said we’d come back to explore the other side of the park, which is literally on the other side when you turn in and boy do we no regret it! There’s a small trail leading to a giant view of Lake Tarpon, it’s part pathway and then leads to a boardwalk, the kids always love running these trails just as much as we do, and it helps get our steps in and it tires them out haha! When you’re on the boardwalk you see so much wildlife, especially near dusk, we saw four or five baby alligators, we saw tons of butterflies, birds, squirrels and even a hawk. The trail is kinda short but definitely worth it! On this side of the park there’s also restrooms and water fountains and swinging benches that you can sit on facing the lake/salmons bay leading into lake tarpon. There’s also a boat ramp for boat people. Overall it’s definitely one of my favorite parks we’ve been too, all the ones on lake tarpon are super nice! Great for dog walkers too!...

Very serene looking over Lake Tarpon. Boardwalk along the water is a nice, pleasant and peaceful walk. Great place to bbq right on the waters edge with picnic tables and grills in your own secluded area. Ample parking, dog run and play area, plenty of fishing areas and a nice boat launch area as well. Lots of picnic tables that are covered by sheltered structures for staying cool. Take Caution that Swimming is Not Recommended here though due to the amount of alligators that live in Lake Tarpon, some of which are very large in stature. The homes that surround the lake are absolutely beautiful and you can see the Tarpon Turtle from across the water. Could have spent an entire day here. Beautiful old established trees and foliage make for plenty of shaded areas to stay cool. Nice place to walk your pets. Saw a small baby gator and alot of wildlife from the boardwalk. There were a few boaters enjoying this beautiful summer day with family and friends. Great place for a family outing. Very peaceful setting. Next time we will have to come back...