A Roadside Respite from a Bygone Era

Big Cypress National Preserve, Ochopee, Collier County


canal view
Welcome to H.P. Williams Roadside Park! In the era before the Interstate Highway System, two-lane country highways like U.S. 41 would offer small, roadside parks where motorists could stop, stretch their legs or eat a picnic lunch. H.P. Williams Roadside Park dates back to 1965, the era when U.S. 41, the Tamiami Trail, was the major artery between Miami and Tampa.

H.P. Williams was incorporated into Big Cypress National Preserve when it opened in 1974. Visitors can still picnic here, but there is also a short boardwalk along the edge of a neighboring canal to view alligators, turtles, hawks and wading birds. H.P. Williams, known to friends and family as Homer P. Williams, was the engineer in charge of constructing the Tamiami Trail in the 1920s. You can see the road, his handiwork, in the midground of this photo.

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Published by Wild South Florida, PO Box 7241, Delray Beach, FL 33482.
Photographs by David Sedore. Photographs are property of the publishers and may not be used without permission.