The Estero RiverPark Trails You Can Walk This Weekend Are the Ones You Get Until May

You reach Estero RiverPark from a side street. The entrance is a short turn east onto County Road, just north of Estero River Outfitters, where the fire station sits. Follow the road to its end, turn right into the new lot, and walk across a 10-foot-wide pedestrian bridge over the Estero River. That bridge replaced the old swing bridge. It connects to an 8-foot, ADA-accessible, porous multi-use path on the south bank.

The park is open on what Estero Today, the Engage Estero news site, calls a "soft opening": Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Estero Forever Foundation runs activities and operations during this period. The Village's project page lists the address as 20911 Highlands Avenue.

The park arrived at an odd moment. A pair of bald eagles has nested on the property since 2022. To protect them, the Village restricts construction there from October 1 to May 15. That window opened eleven days ago. The Phase 2 trail contract the Village Council approved on September 9 can't add new paths this winter. The trails, bridge and restrooms in place today are the park's built footprint for the whole season. Anything new before then would have to come from programs and from opening structures that already stand.

What Phase 1 built

Phase 1 covers less than 6 acres of the roughly 64-acre property at the northeast corner of Corkscrew Road and US 41. Here's what's on the ground now:

• Parking: 85 spaces on the north bank, a few of them shaded
• Restrooms: an Old-Florida-style building on the north side near the main lot
• The bridge: the 10-foot crossing to the south bank
• Bike racks: listed among the Phase 1 improvements
• Trails: mulch rather than pavement, a choice the Village made to save costs

The mulch is the surface you'll actually walk on, and The Squeeze SWFL has a first-hand report on it. In its September 24 newsletter, the writer described the loop as "an easy 20-minute stroll from end to end." The trail stayed dry and mud-free after recent rain, and it was compact enough for a jogging stroller. The writer also said the rain had brought out mosquitoes and recommended repellent.

The published visitor notices don't cover dogs, bicycles on the trails, or fishing. Check with the Village or the Foundation before planning around any of those.

Why the eagles set the calendar

According to Estero Today, the eagles nest in the southwestern part of the property, and a bald eagle management plan is in place. The Village's October 1 to May 15 construction restriction is what turns that nest into a scheduling fact for everyone else.

The September 9 Council meeting shows how much work is waiting on that window. The Council approved a $244,075 contract with Honc Industries to build the Phase 2 paths, with a $24,000 contingency. The Village also reported a $163,100 Lee County Tourist Development Council grant to build more trails on the land south of the river. The Village's project page says Phase 2 will expand paths on both sides of the river, fence the southern property line and add a path along the north side of Corkscrew Road.

The purpose of those paths makes the timing awkward. Estero Today says the Phase 2 paths "will allow people to walk through the area during the eagle's nesting season." They are designed for use during nesting season, and the nesting-season restriction keeps them from being built during it. Estero Today calls the phases "expected to be completed soon," but none of the Village materials give a start or finish date for Phase 2 construction. The September approval was a procurement step, not a schedule.

One contract runs on its own clock. The same night, the Council approved a five-year, $90,895 contract with Earth Balance to treat non-native plants at the park. The first treatment comes within 45 days of the purchase order, then about every six months for the first two years. The Village summary doesn't say whether the nesting restriction covers this work.

What could still change this season

With construction on hold, any new activity at RiverPark this winter would come from programming and from opening what is already standing. The Squeeze SWFL reported that Estero Forever Foundation volunteers it met on the trail were planning "a full slate of programming." The newsletter also wrote that the volunteers would "soon be opening the historic buildings and the on-site kayak launch to visitors." As of the September 26 Estero Today update, the official opening notice listed only hours and parking directions. It didn't mention open buildings or a launch.

The Village's October event calendar for the RiverPark category shows nothing scheduled. If programming starts this season, it will likely come through the Foundation, which has managed the Happehatchee Center for the Village since a November 2024 agreement. That agreement covers management, maintenance and gradual programming improvements meant to increase public use.

The history behind the buildings

The buildings in that "soon" column have a long history. The Squeeze SWFL reports that the Girl Scouts set up a campsite here in the 1940s, and the historic Girl Scout House still stands. A local troop met there this August to paint rocks and explore the grounds. Environmentalist Ellen Peterson bought riverside acreage in 1972 as a personal retreat. She formalized it in 2006 as the Happehatchee Center, a nonprofit eco-spiritual sanctuary. The 4.5-acre preserve was donated to the Village in December 2019 to become part of the park.

That year matters for the whole property. In January 2019, the Village paid $24.5 million for the 62.5 acres. The Village describes the price as about three times its annual revenue at the time. The site had previously been approved for 530 housing units and 300,000 square feet of commercial space. The Village then rezoned about 35 acres as open space and permanent natural preserve.

The rest of the property is still being decided. On August 10, 2026, the Village's procurement office issued a public-private partnership solicitation for a 32-acre Village-owned site north of the river. The goal is a walkable mixed-use riverfront district connected to the planned Bonita Estero Rail Trail. When the Council accepted its Eco-Historic Planning Study in June, three residents asked for more time for input. They also asked that the north side of the river be kept as parkland rather than designated for development. That debate will continue whatever the eagles do. The walkable part of the park this winter stays as built.

A river Saturday this October

The study area for that same Eco-Historic plan covered about 1,000 acres, including the Village's riverfront land and Koreshan State Park. Koreshan is the easiest pairing for a weekend visit, and its October calendar fits RiverPark's hours:

1. 10 a.m. at Koreshan State Park, 3800 Corkscrew Road. The Friends of Koreshan run guided historic walking tours on Saturday, October 17, 24 and 31. Each runs about an hour and a half and costs $10. Children under 13 are free. Park admission is separate: $4 for a single-occupant vehicle or $5 for up to eight people. Day-use hours are 8 a.m. to sunset. The Florida State Parks page still lists the campground as temporarily closed, effective October 31, 2025.
2. Late morning on the water. Estero River Outfitters rents kayaks, canoes and paddleboards from its own dock and lets visitors launch their own craft free during business hours, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's the landmark you pass on the way to the RiverPark turnoff, and for now it's the documented place to get on this stretch of the river.
3. Afternoon at RiverPark. Park in the north-bank lot, cross the bridge and walk the 20-minute loop well before the 6 p.m. close.

Later in the season, the Friends of Koreshan calendar lists a program on Koreshan music history on November 13 and a members-only solstice concert on December 12. By then, RiverPark's trails will look the same as they do today, and the first chance for new paths on the south bank comes after May 15.

If you live near Corkscrew Road and US 41 and want to know how the park's next phases and the plans north of the river could affect your property, The Rafi Group tracks Village decisions like these as they happen. Request a complimentary home valuation, and we'll include how the RiverPark work and the 32-acre solicitation factor into local comparisons.