When Is a Park Not a Park?
Written by Jim W. Harper

The best park in town is really not a park at all. Despite that, it has miles of jogging trails with million-dollar views of Biscayne Bay. There are actual forests of pines and mangroves, and it offers some of the best kayaking and bird-watching around. Manatees and dolphins are regulars.

It may sound like mammoth Oleta State Park, but it is actually Oleta’s conjoined twin. Together they offer one of South Florida’s largest patches of green east of I-95. Both are on state land. However, only one of them is free. The secret is now out: The best park in town is the Biscayne Bay campus of Florida International University.

The eastern half of FIU’s 200-acre property is more like a park than a campus because it houses no buildings and remains in a mostly natural state. It is possible to explore the area for hours without coming across anything remotely academic. And the best way to experience the campus’s better, greener half is from the back-door entrance.

A new bike trail leads you down 135th Street -- North Miami’s version of the Champs-Élysées -- and brings you to nature’s version of the Arc de Triomphe. Giant Australian pines create an arch above the newly marked pathway into the forest. Two footbridges cross over idyllic canals of dark, brackish water that reflect the silhouettes above.

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