Former Coral Springs Mayor Roy Gold will lead his monthly nature tour of Sandy Ridge Sanctuary on Saturday, Nov. 7, starting at 9 a.m. The tour is free and open to residents and guests.
The walk covers the 38-acre park at 8501 NW 40th Street. Participants will follow a winding trail past a large city-created bog and a man-made lake stocked with fish. Gold helped preserve the land in the 1990s.
The city and Gold offer guided tours on the first Saturday of every month. Depending on the group’s interests, age and ability, a tour typically lasts 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.
Sandy Ridge is a state-registered gopher tortoise preserve, and the city has moved several tortoises there after development destroyed their habitat. The sanctuary also has Florida slash pines, oaks and bald cypress.
The park dates to a citizen-driven push around 1994. Voters approved a $7.5 million bond issue for environmentally sensitive land, and a $2.5 million state grant raised the total to $10 million. That money bought four parks, including Sandy Ridge. The land had been slated for 195 zero-lot homes.
Anyone interested in volunteering or booking a tour can call Louis Goldstein at 954-345-2112.
