Miami Sports Magazine May/June 2011

PUBLIC LAND
South Florida Parks
Amelia Earhart Park
(305) 685-8389
401 East 65 Street
Hialeah (Miami), Florida
Kayaking, stand up paddle boarding
(SUP), Mountain Biking, Tail Running,
and In-Line Skating.
Amelia Earhart Park now
occupies what was once home
to the U.S. Navy’s Air Station
Miami—a large plot of land
surrounded by chain link and
barbed wire fencing complete
with “no trespassing” signs.
Eventually, the U.S. Government
donated a large portion of its
undeveloped land to Dade
County for specific use as a
regional park. 30 years later,
the weed and trash-filled land
was finally opened as Amelia
Earhart Regional Park with a
myriad of activities for the sports
enthusiast.
The clear blue water of the
91-acre lake at Amelia Earhart
Park is an ideal place to enjoy
a day of water sports. The park
also offers champion coaching
for wakeboarding, waterskiing,
wake surfing, knee boarding
and barefoot skiing (www.
miamiwakeboardcablecomplex.
com) for those who really want
to learn a new sport. This is
Miami Dade County’s Extreme
Sports Park.
Amelia Earhart is home to one
of South Florida’s top bike trails
for riders of all levels. The 7 to
8-mile trails include both smooth,
well-maintained single-tracks
and fire road trails with climbs
and down hills complete with
banked corners for speed freaks.
An advanced section of the trail
has BMX-style jumps for more
experienced riders.
Bill Baggs State Park
305-361-5811
1200 S. Crandon Boulevard
Key Biscayne, Florida 33149
Kayaking, SUP, Mountain Biking, Tail
Running, In-Line Skating.
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State
Park is the home of a historic
lighthouse built in 1825 and
reconstructed in 1846, and is
the oldest standing structure in
Miami-Dade County. This park
boasts more than one mile of
sandy Atlantic beachfront making
it the perfect place for kayaking,
SUP or just soaking up the sun.
The park has a paved path
approximately 1.5-miles long and
unpaved service roads for easy
biking/hiking. Visitors can easily
ride/hike a few miles in a loop
by routing through the various
paths and dirt roads. Some of the
trails lead you beneath the trees
and through mangrove wetlands
while others offer magnificent
views of Biscayne Bay. Eagle
ray and manatee sightings are not
unusual.
Brian Piccolo Park
Broward County Park
954-357-5150
9501 Sheridan St.
Cooper City, Florida 33024
Biking, Jogging, Skating Path, In-Line
Skating Track, Velodrome, Skate Park.
This park is named after the late
football star Brian Piccolo who
made a name for himself with
his sports prowess at a local
Broward High School. He later
played college football and was
12 • MAY/JUNE 2011
recruited to play professional
football with the Chicago Bears.
However, Brian only played four
seasons before falling victim to
cancer. Today, the 180-acre park
bearing his name is one of the
premier playgrounds in South
Florida.
Brian Piccolo Park is a dreamcome-true
for sports enthusiasts
complete with a 333.3-meter
Velodrome cycling track and
200-meter banked track for inline
skating. The park also boasts
one of the largest skate parks
in South Florida with 35,000
square feet of wooden ramps and
courses for skateboarding, in-line
The Veledrome at Brian Piccolo Park, Cooper City, Florida
skating and BMX-style biking.
Miles of running/hiking trails
take the city out of those athletes
looking for a change of pace and
prefer nature over concrete for