Whether you're wanting to do some birding, looking for a bit of fishing, or seeking shady solitude beneath the branches of a live oak, there are plenty of places to find a calming respite in Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach.

Check out this list of five peaceful parks and preserves that are worth adding to your "must-visit list."

  1. Oyster Creek Park
  2. Audubon-Pennington Park
  3. Prairie Creek Preserve
  4. Tippecanoe Environmental Park
  5. Allapatchee Shores Park

Oyster Creek Park

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This environmental sanctuary along Oyster Creek in Englewood provides both a peaceful atmosphere and exciting photographic possibilities. Keep your eyes peeled for gopher tortoises and perching osprey and bald eagles. You may even luck into a scrub jay sighting. The boardwalk crossing Oyster Creek is an excellent vantage point to view the large variety of birds that use the creek, including wading species such as the wood stork, white ibis, roseate spoonbill, little blue heron, reddish egret, snowy egret, limpkins, and tricolored heron.

Oyster Creek Environmental Park
Oyster Creek Environmental Park

Audubon-Pennington Park

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Audubon-Pennington Nature Park
Audubon-Pennington Nature Park

Take a meditative walk around a ¾ mile loop trail that guides you underneath canopies of live oaks, red maples, Florida elms, and cypress -- just don't forget to bring your binoculars. Audubon-Pennington, located in Port Charlotte, is known as a "birding hotspot" given the fact that more than 80 different species of birds have been observed in this park. Guided tours can be arranged by writing to the Peace River Audubon Society at least two weeks in advance of your visit.

Prairie Creek Preserve

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Known as a secluded hiking, birding, and paddling destination in Punta Gorda, Prairie Creek Preserve has a diverse number of habitats that range from scrub, scrubby flatwoods, palmetto prairies, pine flatwoods, and marshes. You'll have the opportunity to spot an array of Florida wildlife, such as the endangered scrub jay, downy woodpecker, gopher tortoise, bobcat, and white-tailed deer. As an added perk, the preserve has a sand launching area for canoes and kayaks as part of the Charlotte County Blueway Trails system.

Prairie Creek Preserve
Prairie Creek Preserve

Tippecanoe Environmental Park

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Tippecanoe Environmental Park
Tippecanoe Environmental Park

Tippecanoe's main entrance may be somewhat tucked away behind the Charlotte Sports Park off of El Jobean Road in Port Charlotte, which is part of the park's charm. Well-maintained and ADA Accessible boardwalks provide hikers with the chance to observe bird life out in the mangrove communities and marshes, but one of the main highlights is the hike to the top of Mount Tippecanoe for a particularly scenic view of the Myakka River and Charlotte Harbor.

Allapatchee Shores Park

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Situated on the South Fork of Alligator Creek in Punta Gorda, Allapatchee Shores is primarily known for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing.

It's the perfect place to escape the crowds and decompress on the water.

If you don’t have a canoe or kayak, you can fish from the pier or dock for snook, juvenile tarpon, and largemouth bass.

Allapatchee Shores Park
Allapatchee Shores Park

Now that you know about a few more peaceful parks in Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach, it's time to pack up your binoculars, sunscreen, birding journal, fishing rod, and bug spray (in season). There's no such word as "stress" when you're spending time at one of these natural wonders.