Clearwater Opens a Park for Horses

6/23/2014 9:50:45 AM

Contact: Anna Gurney

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The City of Clearwater has opened a 27-acre equestrian park just south of Lake Chautauqua Park equipped with facilities to allow horse-owners and their horses a place to enjoy a ride through a nature preserve.

Lake Chautauqua Equestrian and Nature Preserve features parking spaces for horse trailers, a shaded pavilion with picnic benches, and even a self-watering trough. The land was acquired by the city in 2009 through a Florida Communities Trust grant in the city’s efforts to provide the community more natural park recreation opportunities. “Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida. The City of Clearwater is committed to giving its citizens areas to enjoy natural ecosystems and biodiversity through land preservation. We have 110 parks in Clearwater, with 28 of them labeled nature preserves,” says Felicia Leonard of the City of Clearwater’s Parks & Recreation Department.
The project was funded through a $200,000 Recreational Trails Program grant by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Additional funding for the project came from Penny for Pinellas sale tax.

Lake Chautauqua Park is located at 2312 Landmark Drive, south of Enterprise Road in Clearwater. The park’s amenities include parking, trails and picnic areas. The park is open every day from dawn to dusk.