Nature preserve
Last updated
The foundation that has shaped this island since 1967 — with trails still partly closed and a public front door that has moved.
Photo: James St. JohnCC BY 2.0
The William and Ruth Brooks Nature Trails at the Erick Lindblad Preserve are only partially open while hurricane restoration continues — roughly half a mile is walkable, foot traffic only, no bikes or pets. Check SCCF's trail status page before travelling.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation has done more to determine what this island looks like than any developer. Founded in 1967 as a land trust, it now protects thousands of acres across Sanibel and Captiva, runs a marine laboratory and a water-quality sensor array, monitors sea turtles, shorebirds, ospreys, bald eagles, gopher tortoises and diamondback terrapins, and keeps roughly six miles of public trails open across its preserves.
Its long-standing headquarters at 3333 Sanibel-Captiva Road is where most visitors have historically gone, and this is where a careful reader needs current information rather than an old guidebook. That site is now designated the Erick Lindblad Preserve, and the William and Ruth Brooks Nature Trails there are partially open: restoration from hurricane damage is still under way, and roughly half a mile is currently walkable. It is foot traffic only, no bikes and no pets. The trailhead is in the car park to the right of SCCF's headquarters building.
SCCF's public-facing front door has effectively shifted west along Periwinkle Way to the Bailey Homestead Preserve at number 1300. That is where the Native Landscapes & Garden Center sits, where the Shipley Trail starts, and where the foundation lists its visiting address. If you want a staffed place to arrive, ask questions and buy something, that is the address.
The wider trail network is the real offering and it is open. Around six miles of SCCF trails connect with paths run by the City of Sanibel and the Ding Darling refuge to make more than ten miles of linked walking, most of it accessible from the island's shared-use path, and all of it open sunrise to sunset every day.
The Erick Lindblad Preserve and SCCF's headquarters are at 3333 Sanibel-Captiva Road, in the middle of the island a short distance north-west of the Shell Museum. From the causeway allow around fifteen minutes.
The Bailey Homestead Preserve and Native Landscapes & Garden Center are somewhere else: 1300 Periwinkle Way, about ten minutes east. If you want the staffed, open, buy-a-plant-and-ask-a-question version of SCCF, that is the address to put into a map, not the Sanibel-Captiva Road one.
The island's shared-use path passes both, and several SCCF trails open directly off it, which makes the whole network unusually easy to reach by bike. Trail parking is free at both sites — worth noting on an island where every beach lot charges by the hour.
This is the detail that matters most and the detail that most published material gets wrong, because it has changed repeatedly since 2022.
Erick Lindblad Preserve, 3333 Sanibel-Captiva Road. The William and Ruth Brooks Nature Trails here are partially open. Restoration from hurricane damage is still under way and about half a mile is currently walkable, one way. Foot traffic only — no bikes, no dogs. Seasonal flooding is common in parts, though drier options exist year-round. The trail begins at a trailhead in the car park to the right of the headquarters building and runs through what was historically freshwater wetland, alongside a short section of the Sanibel Slough.
Bailey Homestead Preserve, 1300 Periwinkle Way. Open, staffed and the address SCCF gives as its visiting location.
The rest of the preserve trails. Open, sunrise to sunset, daily.
The honest instruction: SCCF publishes trail-by-trail status on its own site and updates it as restoration progresses. Look at it the week you travel. Anything written before 2025 about the nature centre building as a visitor destination should be treated as out of date until you have confirmed otherwise.
Sanibel's interior is a freshwater system sitting inside a saltwater barrier island, which is unusual and is the reason these trails show you something the beaches cannot. The island's central slough runs its length, and the habitats around it — wet prairie, hardwood hammock, retention pond, mangrove fringe — hold birds and reptiles that never come near the Gulf.
Seven SCCF preserves are open to the public. Most of the foundation's land is deliberately closed, to protect habitat rather than to inconvenience anyone.
At the Bailey Homestead Preserve, 1300 Periwinkle Way, SCCF runs the only retail garden centre on Sanibel or Captiva stocking entirely native plants. It is a more interesting stop than that description suggests, and it is where a visitor can actually talk to somebody.
The wider point for a visitor: native planting is not decorative policy on Sanibel. It is water quality, it is habitat, and after repeated storm surges it is also what survives.
You will encounter SCCF's work whether or not you visit a preserve.
The marked sea turtle nests on the beach are theirs. The sea turtle hotline number on the beach signage is theirs. The shorebird monitoring that leads to roped-off nesting areas in spring is theirs. The water quality readings that tell you whether red tide is a factor this week come from their marine laboratory and its sensor array, and they publish a weekly water conditions tracker and red tide resources that are genuinely worth checking before a beach holiday on this coast.
They also run the Sanibel Sea School, do mangrove and oyster restoration through their Coastal Watch programme, and maintain the plant database that names everything you will walk past.
For a visitor, three practical takeaways. Check the water conditions tracker before you travel if red tide is a concern. Do not disturb a marked nest or a roped shorebird area. And if you find an injured or stranded sea turtle, there is a hotline for exactly that rather than a general emergency number.
Operators run these trips past SCCF, or stop there as part of a longer route. We list what the booking data supports — not everything that mentions the name.
Some links below go to Viator, our booking partner. We earn a commission on bookings made through them — at no extra cost to you, and with no influence on what we recommend.
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Straight-line distances, so allow more on the road — the island is long and has one main parkway.
Museum
The only museum in the country devoted to shells and the animals that make them — and now an accredited aquarium as well.
1.5–3 hoursAdults $25, seniors and veterans $20, youth and students $15, children 5–11 $10, under 5 free.0.3 mi away
Trail
A shaded interior trail from a 1890s homestead and native-plant nursery to the boardwalk where the city's Pond Apple Trail begins.
0.5–2 hoursFree. Parking at the preserve is free too.4.3 mi away
Trail
The island's wettest public trail, named for a tree that grows standing in water — and the closest walk to the causeway toll plaza.
0.5–1.5 hoursFree, with no gate, no ticket and no staff.4.8 mi away
Nature preserve
Around 5,200 acres of mangrove estuary named after a newspaper cartoonist, covering a large share of the island. Closed one day a week.
1.5–5 hoursWildlife Drive costs $10 per vehicle, or $1 per cyclist and pedestrian over 15. The Bailey Tract is free.1 mi away
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Budget
Almost everything worth doing on Sanibel is free. The beaches are free. Shelling is free and requires no equipment. The interior trails are free…
Things to do
Almost everyone arrives here in a car, because the causeway is the only way on and there is no other option. Almost everyone then spends the week…
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Four miles of one-way road through 6,400 acres of mangrove. It is closed on Fridays, and the tide decides whether you see anything.
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More than 245 species have been recorded at the refuge alone. The trick is not where to stand — it is when, and the answer is a falling tide.
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The site at 3333 Sanibel-Captiva Road is now designated the Erick Lindblad Preserve, and its William and Ruth Brooks Nature Trails are only partially open while hurricane restoration continues — around half a mile is walkable, on foot only, with no bikes or dogs. SCCF now gives the Bailey Homestead Preserve at 1300 Periwinkle Way as its visiting address, and that is the staffed location. Check SCCF's own trail status page before you travel.
Around six miles across seven public preserves, and because several connect with trails run by the City of Sanibel and the Ding Darling refuge, the linked network runs to more than ten miles. All of it is open sunrise to sunset every day and free. Several trailheads open directly off the island's shared-use path, so you can reach most of the network by bicycle without using a car park at all.
On some. The Shipley Trail from the Bailey Homestead and the Sanibel Gardens Preserve Trail from Island Inn Road both permit dogs and bikes. Others, including the partially open Brooks Nature Trails and the Periwinkle Preserve Trail, are foot traffic only specifically to protect wildlife in more sensitive habitat. SCCF marks which is which at each trailhead and on its website, and the restriction is worth respecting rather than testing.
Founded in 1967 as a land trust, it protects thousands of acres across Sanibel and Captiva and runs a marine laboratory with a water-quality sensor array. The marked sea turtle nests on the beaches are its work, as are the roped shorebird nesting areas, the sea turtle hotline and the weekly water conditions and red tide tracker — which is genuinely worth checking before a beach holiday on this coast. It also runs the Sanibel Sea School and a native plant garden centre.
At the Bailey Homestead Preserve, 1300 Periwinkle Way — not at the Sanibel-Captiva Road headquarters. It is open 10am to 3pm Tuesday to Thursday, with Fridays by appointment only, and it is the only retail garden centre on Sanibel or Captiva stocking entirely native plants. Demonstration gardens surround it, staff will identify what you photographed on the trail, and the Shipley Trail starts from the same site.
