Marsh Landing, Osceola County’s latest park, opened Tuesday. While the new park is on the tourist corridor, it’s not your typical attraction.
- Marsh Landing in Kissimmee allows visitors to explore lower end of Shingle Creek
- Canoes, kayaks and paddleboards available to rent
- Park was a marina that was destroyed in 2004 hurricanes
Rich Miller was a kayak instructor for 20 years and while an accident has slowed him, it can’t keep him away from nature. He may not teach anymore but now runs The Paddling Center.
“We have all kind of wildlife. In fact, just now I saw a red shoulder hawk,” he said.
The Paddling Center is now renting out canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. People can explore the lower end of Shingle Creek, even go out to Makinson Island in Lake Toho.
“And you know, Makinson Island, historically speaking, was one of those islands that the Seminole Indians would go to in the center of the lake, for safety,” said Osceola County Commissioner Michael Harford.
But everything didn’t always look like it does now. The 2-acre property was once known as the Harbor Oaks Marina -- a marina that was severely damaged by Mother Nature.
“In 2004, when the hurricanes came through, it actually pretty much destroyed the marina,” Miller said. “It collapsed everything, tore the rifts off and they never really recovered from that and eventually sold that to the county.”
The county was able to buy this property with the help of the South Florida Water Management District through their “Save our Rivers” program in 2010. County leaders say they made it a goal to restore this area in order to celebrate its history.
“The environment is integral. Not only to our joy of being out here in nature, but it truly was an economic factor in Osceola County, 100 years ago,” Harford said.