My favorite neighborhood walk with my dog in Temple Terrace, Florida
We are blessed here in our little residential city with a good number of parks. My favorite neighborhood park is actually a combination of Riverhills Park and Boy Scout Park. Both of these wonderful parks are great places to take your dog for a walk - not leash free - but still a beautiful place to take the pup. Riverhills Park is located along the Hillsborough River and is on the Florida Birding Trail. What is there to do in Riverhills Park?
Boat ramp - want to enjoy nature in a canoe, kayak or power boat? or perhaps go fresh water fishing? - It's available at this neighborhood park
Play ground - want to take your children to the playground? - It's available at this neighborhood park
Fishing on river bank - want to go fresh water fishing? - perhaps your children want to experience fishing? - It's available at this neighborhood park
Are you starting to get the picture?
Other activities include a picnic at one of the many tables available under the trees, a party or get together at the gazebo, a nice walk along the river on the boardwalk, pickle ball on the courts or perhaps gardening at the Community garden. There are a large variety of things to do.
If you're more into nature and want a little bit of a get away, check out Boy Scout Park - you might not notice that you changed parks unless you see the sign as they are right next to each other. Boy Scout Park offers a trail system in natural Florida. It's a nice place to wander with your dogs among the trees, ferns and other vegetation. Just watch out during alligator mating season (April/May) - yes, they are here! Watch out for the spiders and mosquitoes. If you're lucky you might spot a barred owl or perhaps a red shoulder hawk.
I must admit, that we walk our dogs through this park almost every day. We might skip a day due to weather or being away but just about every other day we will walk through this park and the dogs love it.
Our first walk with Jimbo so many years ago (2012) was to the trails at Boy Scout Park.
After walking among the ferns, Jimbo just sat down in the middle of them. I think he was looking for our other dog, Dolly, who was the 'senior' of this pair.
Recently some new paths through the ferns have been cut - the dogs are enjoying going through those to see where they lead. These ferns are a couple of feet in height, so I'm sure they are just following the path without any idea where exactly it is going.
Sometimes (not often) when "Dad" comes along, if it's hot, and we are careful...we get to play in the water at the boat ramp. Never when it's busy, always watching for gators only for a very short period of time (I do not recommend this by the way).
Water coming out of Abby's mouth in various directions (she was having a lot of fun).
Only Abby loves the water - and when we are up in the mountains, we let her play as much as she wants (no threat of gators) - but here at home, doesn't happen very much.
Sometimes, its just a few minutes sitting on the boat ramp dock with Dad relaxing and taking in the view. In the early morning these trees look like they have been toilet papered. There are so many white birds (mostly Ibis) that flock to this island of trees each evening and each morning they leave for the day.
So what does this park actually look like?
The boat ramp and playground
Approaching by boat the boat ramp at Riverhills Park and the playground in beyond in the distance.
The Sunsets
The sunsets can be very beautiful! Especially in the cooler months of the year - sometimes during the summer after a thunderstorm the sunsets are spectacular also.
The trees
Beautiful oak trees are among the park providing shade from the Florida heat.
The boardwalk
The boardwalk is a nice walk along the river's edge. Watch for birds, turtles and the occasional alligator. And please do NOT feed the alligators. NOTE: The boardwalk was redone a few years ago with plastic wood which is not shown in this photograph.
Fall Color along the water's edge
The cypress trees turning to a beautiful color as fall approaches.
Entrance to Boy Scout Park
The trail system within Boy Scout Park can be a fun get away from the 'city'. At sunset, if timed right for the sun to shine through, the trees light up beautifully.
Dog Photography at Riverhills Park
In case you are curious, yes - there are some great places to take your dog and get some great photographs too. Many of the photographs that I have shared of our dogs (Abby, Ollie, Rue and Jimbo) were taken at this park. Here's a few photographs taken at Riverhills Park.
Dog portrait taken at Riverhills Park (Leash was removed in post processing)
Full body - this dog had a great time during our photo shoot at Riverhills park near the Gazebo. Leashes were removed from the photograph in post processing.
Jimbo among the roots of what was at one time the most iconic tree at the park. Unfortunately, it was removed a few years ago because it was dying and branches were falling down. We loved our Jimbo - we loved this tree - now both are memories.
Address
Riverhills Park - 401 South Riverhills Drive, Temple Terrace Florida
Located behind Riverhills Elementary School
Boy Scout Park - located off West River Drive (west of this street) and Broxburn Avenue. Please note - Google indicated that this park is closed, however it can be accessed from the parking lot located to the west of the intersection of West River Drive and Broxburn Avenue in Temple Terrace.
Blogging with Pet Photographers
This is a personal project that I try to participate in each week (as much as possible). This post is part of a 'blog circle' which is with several other Professional Pet Photographers around the world. Each week a different theme is provided to the group and we, as pet photographers, interpret the theme in our own way. Follow the link provided at the end of each of my blogs to the next pet photographer's blog - and when you arrive back at my blog - you've completed the entire circle of blogs for this theme. For more pet photographers sharing their take on this theme, head over to visit Pawtraits by Nicole, photographing pets for their people in and around Las Vegas, Nevada
Interested in a Pet Photography Session?
If you would like to discuss or book a custom pet portrait session, send an email to [email protected] or give us a call/text Linda at 813-610-2671 in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough/Pinellas/Pasco/Polk counties in Florida). We have flexible rates and packages to fit most everyone’s budget as we believe that having wonderful photographs of your pet is important to so many people.