Bonita Springs, FL

The Imperial River runs through Bonita Springs' old downtown, passes mangrove preserves, and reaches Estero Bay near the city's Gulf-side barrier islands. It links places with very different forms: inland neighborhoods east of Interstate 75, commercial development along Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41, the older grid on Old 41, and beach communities along Little Hickory Island. Downtown began as Survey after Army Corps of Engineers crews camped beside Surveyor's Creek in the 1870s. Promoters later renamed both the settlement and waterway. Barron Collier's railroad arrived in the early 1920s, the Tamiami Trail opened in 1928, and the present municipality incorporated in 1999. Water still shapes the city's map, but the main roads organize most everyday commerce and work.

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Construction ranked first among employed Bonita Springs residents in 2024. Health care and social assistance came next, followed by retail trade. U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road carry extensive shopping, medical, hospitality, and service uses, while Interstate 75 ties the city to the larger Fort Myers-Naples region. Old 41 combines smaller businesses with city offices, arts facilities, and the historic center. Arts Bonita spans two of those corridors: its Visual Arts Center is on Old 41 and its Performing Arts Center is on Bonita Beach Road. Together they provide galleries, studios, auditoriums, classes, films, theater, and concerts, and the organization stages three national art festivals each year.

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The lower Imperial River can be explored by canoe or kayak beside the county's 39-acre Imperial River Preserve. The preserve has no land entrance, so its red, black, and white mangroves are viewed from the water. Farther west, beach accesses line Little Hickory Island, and Lovers Key State Park protects barrier-island beach, maritime hammock, tidal canals, and mangrove estuary. Florida acquired the four islands in 1983 after development preparations had dredged a canal through Black Island and changed mangrove swamps to uplands. In summer 2026, the park remained open, though resilience work had ended tram service. Its two beach entrances required walks of 1,000 feet or one-half mile from the main parking area. Inland, over five miles of trails and a 2.5-mile paddling route cross the protected landscape.

ATTRJulie Campbell from Naples, FL, USA / CC BY 2.0

Old 41 holds much of the city's civic memory and current construction activity. Riverside Park contains a bandshell, restored fishing cottages used by artists, and the 1926 Liles Hotel, whose public rooms display local-history exhibits. Nearby Wonder Gardens began in 1936 as a Tamiami Trail reptile attraction; a nonprofit now operates the city-owned botanical garden and wildlife-education site beneath mature banyans. As of summer 2026, Riverside Park was closed for a renovation phase scheduled through November, while the Liles Hotel Plaza and adjacent lawn remained available for gatherings. A mixed-use project on the former Bamboo Lot was also under construction, removing a former public parking area from event use. Celebrate Bonita used Old 41, the bridge, and the hotel plaza as an illuminated route for art, music, student performances, and downtown business activities.