Orlando’s Best Hidden Park

March 4, 2016Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake sign

Most everybody comes to Orlando with theme parks in mind. And that makes complete sense. After all, we do have the best theme parks in the world. Some people would even say that your visit to Orlando is not complete unless you visit a theme park.

But if you are coming to visit us and have some spare time, we do suggest you check out another kind of park. A city park filled with nature and fresh air! It’s highly important that you give yourself a break when vacationing in Orlando. Trust us when we say that you won’t want to spend ten days in a row going to theme parks, shopping heavily and visiting scheduled attractions without taking a proper break to just relax.

Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake is located very near Universal Studios and also near our hotel if you are staying with us at The Enclave Suites. Here’s what you’ll find:

Upon entering the park through Hiawassee road you can make a right at the sign for the animal farm. It is not a petting farm, because there is nobody there to supervise visitors. So you will have to supervise the kids and make sure they don’t pet the animals, but we guarantee they’ll still have a blast watching the farm animals.

They have horses, donkeys and even a cow. The horses come up really close to you at the fence and seem to enjoy the company of all the visitors.

horses under tree

They have chickens, roosters, turkeys, peacocks and even bunnies!

chickens in a coop

The funniest thing is that there was a cat inside the chicken coop just hanging out with the chickens.

yellow cat grooming himself

turkey in a coop

They also have a spot for goats and warthogs, who live together.

black goat

It was lunch time for this cute goat and moss was on the menu that day. Can you spot the warthogs in the back of the picture? They’re on the bottom right side of the image all the way in the shade, but they’re black so you can barely see the. They were also asleep the whole whole time.

white goat with front hooves on a tree

The park is huge, so you could always go bike riding if you happen to have a bike!

bicycle setting in park

Or maybe just go sunbathing on the grass. The park actually has a pool, but it has restricted hours and it’s not open during the Winter.

view of the lake

You can also picnic in the park as they have tables, chairs and even places for barbecues. They also have a child’s playground nearby the picnic area that seemed rather popular with the kids!

picnic area

 

More Information:

The 187-acre park on Turkey Lake offers fishing, boating & a playground plus cabin & tent camping.

Park Hours
November – March: 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
April – October: 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Address
3401 S Hiawassee Road,
Orlando, FL 32835

Phone: 407.246.4486
Fax: 407.297.2056
Email: turkeylakepark@cityoforlando.net

Park Entry Fees * includes tax
Per car, daily $4.00
Driver only, daily $2.00

Ps: if you come into the park by bike or by foot, you won’t need to pay for parking.