This Fall Is the First Real Season for Wellen Park's Newest Trails

Wellen Park opened Oakheart Trail, Buttonwood Trail and The Greenway at a National Trails Day celebration. Together they add more than 6 miles of paths and push the community's trail network past 40 miles, according to Town Chronicle's July 15 cover story. Wellen Park posted its event page in late May, and Town Chronicle reported the trails open by mid-July, so their first few months fell during the hottest stretch of a Southwest Florida year.

Now that the season has turned, the three trails are worth a closer look, and they are less alike than the opening-day coverage suggested. Oakheart has its own parking lot. Buttonwood and The Greenway were built for people who live close enough to walk to them. Which trail fits your fall routine depends on where you start.

Three trails, three different starting points

Oakheart's listed length depends on where you look. Wellen Park's Parks & Trails page says "more than three miles," and the official trail map PDF labels it about 2.6 miles. In practice, an out-and-back on the full trail is a solid morning walk.

Oakheart is the one built for a drive

Of the three, only Oakheart has the setup of a destination. The Wellen Park page says restrooms and both vehicle and bicycle parking sit at the trailhead off Playmore Road. Town Chronicle adds water fountains, bike racks and shaded seating, and describes a route through wooded areas with frequent bird and wildlife sightings.

Those amenities make longer stays easy. You can park, walk the shell paths and boardwalks, stop at the lakeside observation dock and fill a bottle on the way back. The trail also ties three neighborhoods together, Brightmore, EVERLY and Lakespur, so households along the route can skip the drive and walk in.

The fishing pier will likely draw more attention as mornings cool off. Wellen Park hasn't posted any pier-specific fishing rules, but the state rule still applies. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's license guidance says a license is required to attempt to take fish, and that includes catch-and-release, with certain listed exemptions. Check that page before you bring a rod. This is general information, not legal advice, and FWC is the authority on whether an exemption covers you.

Buttonwood and the Greenway assume you're already close

Buttonwood runs about 2.5 miles along Manasota Beach Road East and connects directly to Palmera. Town Chronicle describes it winding through wetlands, with elevated boardwalk sections beneath mature tree canopies. Wellen Park's official pages don't list a dedicated parking lot for it. On National Trails Day, participants were directed to park at the D.R. Horton Ashcombe Townhomes off Manasota Beach Road, but that was for the one-day event. The trail rules say to use public parking areas only, so for now Buttonwood is easiest for people who can walk or bike to it.

The Greenway is short, about three-quarters of a mile. Town Chronicle says it's meant for daily walks and links nearby neighborhoods with Downtown Wellen, with a pollinator garden along the way. That makes it a connector. You can walk to coffee or dinner on it, the same way Fetch Dog Park works as part of a downtown errand instead of a separate trip.

Wellen Park president Rick Severance described the trails' purpose this way in his interview with Town Chronicle:

"New residents may never step foot on the tennis court, but they'll use the trails."

The same story notes that the network links neighborhoods with parks, lakes, preserves and Downtown Wellen, giving people options other than driving for short trips. Buttonwood and The Greenway are the clearest examples. They were built mainly to get people from home to somewhere else on foot.

The posted rules worth knowing before your first fall walk

Wellen Park published its trail rules and etiquette on the National Trails Day page. A few matter more in cooler months, when more people are out:

• Dawn to dusk. The trails close at dusk, and overnight camping is prohibited. Days get shorter through December, so evening walks have less time.
• No motorized or electric transportation. The list includes golf carts, scooters, e-motorbikes and low-speed vehicles. Ordinary bikes are welcome. If you're unsure about a particular electric bike, check with Wellen Park before you ride it on the trails.
• Leashed dogs only. Dogs are welcome on a leash and under control, and owners clean up after them.
• Skip the trail when it's very muddy. The rules ask users to avoid trails when they're excessively muddy, since that damages the surface and the surrounding habitat. Shell paths and wetland edges are worth checking after a heavy rain.
• No glass, alcohol, smoking, grills or fires. This matters most at Oakheart's shaded seating, where people tend to linger.
• Share the path. Cyclists stay to the right, yield to slower users and slow down to pass. Walkers step off the trail when they stop.

These were posted ahead of the opening, so follow trailhead signage wherever it differs.

What's flying in while you walk

Part of what makes fall a good time for these trails is the change in wildlife across Sarasota County. A Your Observer birding guide published in 2024 notes that bald eagles return to the area in October looking for prior mates, and that the least sandpiper is a fall migrant that stays through winter. The same guide names painted buntings as winter visitors at Sarasota Audubon Nature Center feeders. Sarasota Audubon lists ring-necked ducks, blue-winged and green-winged teal, lesser scaup and northern shovelers among the wintering waterfowl at Celery Fields.

Closer to home, Venice Area Audubon says rookery nesting season begins in December, with great blue herons, great egrets, anhingas and cormorants as the principal nesting birds.

None of these sources tracks sightings on Wellen Park's own trails, so treat the list as what's possible in the region this season. Still, Oakheart's lakeside dock and Buttonwood's wetland boardwalks are the kind of spots where a pair of binoculars is worth carrying.

Using the trails with other people

If you'd rather walk with others, Wellen Park runs two free weekly meetups out of Downtown Wellen, a short walk from The Greenway:

1. Walking Group: Saturdays at 9 a.m. in front of Downtown Wellen Outfitters. Come and go as you like, with no registration.
2. Running Group: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7:30 a.m., near the turf at Solis Hall. All levels are welcome, with no registration.

For something seasonal, the Glow Bike Ride is set for Saturday, December 5, from 6 to 7 p.m. in Downtown Wellen. Wellen Park organizes it and Bicycles International sponsors it. Registration is $5, helmets are required, and riders under 16 need a parent or guardian. Check-in is at the Hammock Lawns between The Banyan House and Fetch Dog Park. The event page describes it as a nighttime street ride, so it runs on Downtown streets rather than the nature trails, which close at dusk.

For longer rides off the Wellen network, the recent Legacy Trail fix near Venice has made that route easier to string together, too.

Whether you're near Playmore Road, off Manasota Beach Road East or a few blocks from Downtown Wellen, your nearest trail says something about how your part of Wellen Park is set up day to day. The team at NextHome Suncoast spends a lot of time in these neighborhoods and is glad to share which trail access points, shady stretches and downtown connections fit the routine you want. Find Your Suncoast Lifestyle.