Jenkins Creek Park

Jenkins Creek Park sits directly across Shoal Line Boulevard from Linda Pedersen, on the same tidal creek, and the two are joined by an aluminum footbridge. This side has the boat ramp and a hand launch, so it is the one to use if you would rather slide in off a ramp than carry your board down. A low pedestrian bridge over the creek caps the size of what can get through, which keeps the big powerboats out and the paddling quiet. From here the creek opens into a web of backwater bays, Rice Creek, Centipede, and Rock Island, and you can work south toward the Chassahowitzka country if you have the tide and the time for it. The same winter manatees that use Linda Pedersen pass through here. Mind the tide, because the creek goes thin and muddy at dead low. One oddity worth knowing: the kiosk here charges ten dollars a day while Linda Pedersen across the street is only five, so if you are carrying a board anyway you can park cheaper on the far side.

Where do I park, and is it free?

Cost

$10 / day (as of 2026-06)

Parking

Moderate

Restrooms

yes

County park with a boat ramp and fishing pier across the street from Linda Pedersen.

How clear is the water?

Tidal creek, shallow at low water.

What will I see?

• Manatees moving through the creek in the cold months, same as across the street
• Redfish and snook along the mangrove edges, sheepshead off the pier, wading birds on the flats

What's the fishing like?

Tidal creek: redfish and snook along the mangroves, trout on the flats, sheepshead off the pier.

How do I share the water here?

This creek is part of the same warm-water manatee refuge as the parks around it, and the backwater bays are shallow seagrass. Stay in the deeper creek channels at low tide instead of dragging across the grass, and give any manatee a wide, slow berth.