The WOW factor: Celebrating 10 years of the high life
Its observation tower rises 75 feet above the floor of the surrounding live-oak hammock. Its 85-foot-long suspended walkway sways amid the treetops much to the delight – and sometimes trepidation – of visitors making their way across.
The breathtaking view from the top stretches for miles and is unlike any other in this corner of the world.
"It" is the Canopy Walkway at Myakka River State Park. And this year marks its 10th anniversary.
Dr. Meg Lowman in her element: the treetops traversed by the Canopy Walkway at Myakka River State Park. Photos by Robert Frederickson.
Work began on the now iconic Sarasota County landmark in February 2000. It was built in just 10 days, officially opening to the public later that spring. But if things had gone just a bit differently, it might today be located a mere stone’s throw south of downtown Sarasota – drawing ecotourists to the county’s urban core instead of to its rural eastern reaches.
The view from the observation tower of the 85-foot-long walkway.
"The original idea was to build it at Selby Gardens," said Dr. Meg Lowman, director of environmental initiatives at New College in Sarasota and the driving force behind the project – though she prefers to credit others for much of the success in making the canopy walk a reality.
She points specifically to local developer Bob Richardson for his fundraising skill and Director Robert Dye and Specialist Paula Benshoff of Myakka River State Park for their work addressing the many details and obstacles that accompanied the project. Dye was especially adept at cutting through the seemingly endless bureaucracy encountered at the state level, and Benshoff uncovered several local grants that helped provide valuable funding.
Countless others in the community were also involved, said Lowman, terming it "a true grassroots effort." A smile comes to her face as she recalls the dozens of car washes and other fundraising events held to get the project off the ground (in the most literal sense).
The observation tower.
But though many were involved, it was Lowman’s vision throughout that inspired the undertaking.
At the time she was the director of research at Sarasota’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. As for the early idea of placing the canopy walk there, she recalled in a recent interview how the Gardens’ senior management at the time – including then Director Mark Bierner – passed on the idea. "They were worried about the impact they thought it would have on the grounds," she said.
Selby instead opted for a lower-profile – though no less intriguing – canopy walk project. Completed in 1999 and called "Walker’s Walk," it winds through a stand of giant fig trees near Hudson Bayou. Like the Myakka walkway, it offers visitors an intimate, up-close view of the canopy habitat. It also has the advantage of being handicap-accessible, something the Myakka walkway is not. But in terms of scale and sheer height, it perhaps intentionally makes a less dramatic physical statement than its east county counterpart – one more in keeping with its Selby surroundings, according to those supporting its understated approach.
Largely because of the Myakka version’s higher profile – call it the "wow" factor – national and international interest in it has grown steadily in the decade since it opened. According to Lowman, many visitors have remarked that they were drawn to Myakka River State Park just to take the "canopy walk" as it is called and to take in those breathtaking vistas that reward a climb up the 115 steps. It has become something of a pilgrimage for travelers looking for a different kind of vacation adventure.
"Travel writers love it," said Lowman. "Articles about it have run in papers and magazines around the world."
Since admission to Myakka River State Park includes access to the canopy walk, it’s difficult to know exactly how many additional visits the walkway contributes to each year’s total. But the park service’s Benshoff recalls doing a study in 2000 comparing park attendance that summer with figures from the previous three. "The increase was significant," she said in a recent interview. "More than double as I recall."
She added that she, too, has been asked, "Where’s that canopy walk we’ve heard about?" supporting the notion that many park guests are drawn to the park first and foremost by the walkway’s distinct allure.
"The parking lot by the trail is full year-round," Benshoff said. "[The Canopy Walkway] seems as popular today as it was when it first opened."
Recognized internationally for her research on canopy habitat, Lowman was inspired to bring a canopy walk to her adopted hometown of Sarasota through her experience with one built by her alma mater, Williams College, in Massachusetts. Completed in 1992, that structure was the first canopy walkway in North America.
But unlike Sarasota’s two examples, it was conceived primarily as a research facility. It is not routinely open to the public.
That’s not to say the Myakka Canopy Walkway doesn’t plays an important role in research and education as well. The day Lowman spoke with the Pelican Press at Myakka River State Park, she was also meeting there with a professor from Baker University in Kansas, Dr. William Miller, who had come to conduct research into microscopic organisms called water bears, which live high in the treetops. Water bears are a well-known "indicator" species, so named because they provide valuable insight into the overall health of their environment.
Lowman also regularly brings her New College students out to the Canopy Walkway for field studies. Even grade school students have gotten involved. Fifth- and third-graders from Pine View elementary school in Osprey are studying the effects of the invasive Mexican Weevil that has attacked bromeliads that usually thrive in the canopy environment.
But while research and education are important parts of the Canopy Walkway story, it’s that "wow" factor that has allowed Lowman’s vision to cross over from the world of academia and capture the imagination of a broader public.
Her eyes dance whenever the subject turns to anything that might raise awareness of the natural world that has fascinated her since she was a young girl, prophetically playing with her friends in the tree house behind her Elmira, N.Y., home.
How does the saying go? "The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys."
Sometimes, it’s the same for girls.
For more photos, see Robert Frederickson's blog, "A Sarasota Minute," at
http://www.pelicanpress.org/blogs/sarasota-minute/