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Werner-Boyce Park Will Help You Appreciate 'Real' Outdoors

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2007

This past weekend was one of the most undeniably weather-perfect we have had all year. The bright, warm sun, slight, steady breeze and cool temperatures just begged for outdoor activities of any kind.

So, along with our dynamic duo - our 2- and 4-year-old sons, Ezra and Caleb - my husband, Bill, and I indulged in more than our fair share of the great outdoors. Both Saturday and Sunday were filled with all of the food, fun, and frolicking at local parks, playgrounds and festivals our aching feet could manage.

When I finally had time to take a deep breath, relax and click through the weekend's photos on my digital camera, I realized there was only one stop along the way that provided any opportunity to appreciate the "real" outdoors. We had trekked through all of western Pasco and Hernando counties, yet we had managed to visit only one place that wasn't staged with some sort of orchestrated entertainment.

Park Has Breathtaking Simplicity

Tucked away behind two of the busiest social hubs in west Pasco, we found an environmental oasis with a history as deep as the brush was thick. Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park, located a little ways off U.S. 19 in Port Richey, was breathtaking in its simplicity and its contrast to the congestion of the neighboring Hollywood 18 movie theater and Gulf View Square Mall.

The park protects four miles of coastline and is home to a 320-foot-deep salt spring and a variety of wildlife, including gray foxes, gopher tortoises, West Indian manatees, raptors and migratory songbirds. Most of its 600 dry acres have yet to be developed.

As my children quickly noted, there are no swings, slides or monkey bars at the park. This is, after all, a nature park. Park manager Toby Brewer described Werner-Boyce as an observers' park. It's one of those places you go to simply enjoy the surroundings, serene and undisturbed.

The park also happens to be the site of some interesting local history.

War Was A Momentous Time
The history of the salt springs can be traced back to the early-1800s when the Seminole Indians occupied the land. Trails created by the Seminole Indians were later converted to military roads the troops used to travel between forts and to establish new settlements, according to local historian Jeff Cannon.

The Second Seminole War proved to be a momentous time for the salt springs. The military route through this area and others like it allowed the military to establish a stronghold against the Seminoles and helped pave the way for Florida being opened for settlement. Settlement led to statehood.

With the only road through the coastal area of western Pasco and Hernando counties, the salt springs area eventually became the site of a new settlement centered around - what else - the production of salt. This new settlement was particularly important during the Civil War, when Cannon says, "Salt became such a needed commodity that it could be traded for anything, and the prices increased."

The settlers flourished, but prosperity came at a price. Again, the roadways that ran along the salt springs provided a trusted route for the military - for both Confederate and Union soldiers. Throughout the early 1860s, soldiers from both armies trampled, occupied and abandoned the salt springs, bringing an end to the lucrative business the salt springs once provided.

The springs and its adjacent settlement never rebounded. The area has somehow managed to escape the real estate booms and development that has taken place around it. Instead, unbeknownst to most people, the Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park exists, much as it did many years ago, along the busiest route through western Pasco and Hernando counties - U.S. 19.

If nothing else, it's worth a brief stop to the park just to take in the seemingly impenetrable landscape that once was as likely to be hiding a soldier or a Seminole warrior as it's likely to be providing refuge for a yellow warbler or a downy woodpecker today.

Patti Phillips is a Pasco County native. She can be reached at phillip@phcc.edu.

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