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Simpson Park Hammock
Simpson Park Hammock Broadway Entrance 01.jpg
Entrance on Broadway and South Miami Avenue
Type Municipal
Location 55 SW 17th Rd, Miami, FL 33129
Area 7.8 acres (0.032 km2)
Created 1913 (1913)
Operated by Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department
Open 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (305) 859-2867
Website

Simpson Park, officially Simpson Park Hammock, is a 7.8-acre (3.2 ha) urban park and nature preserve located between Brickell and The Roads neighborhoods of Miami, Florida. The park was originally known as Jungle Park, as 5.5 acres (2.2 ha) were set aside in 1913 by a group of individuals to preserve what is now one of the last remaining tracts (along with Alice Wainwright Park and a spot on Virginia Key) of Brickell Hammock, a tropical hardwood hammock which once ran from the Miami River to Coconut Grove.

The park lies on the Miami Rock Ridge at an elevation over 15 ft above sea level, relatively high for the Miami area. The soils are mostly shallow muck (Matecumbe Series) over limestone. In 1927 the park's name was changed in honor of Miami botanist and conservationist Charles Torrey Simpson. In 1940 an additional 3 acres (1.2 ha) of adjacent hammock was incorporated into the park. A building known as the Charles Torrey Simpson Garden Center was constructed on this addition in 1941. This is also the main entrance to the park, at 55 SW 17th Road.

Simpson Park is home to 15 endangered plant species, such as Licaria triandra, and 9 threatened plant species. Being a remnant of local regional ecology in the highly developed downtown area, Simpson Park has the qualities of an urban wild or "passive park".

Hurricane Irma

In September 2017, the park was closed for months after its canopy was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irma.

  • Simpson Park tropical hardwood hammock defoliated and damaged after 2017 Hurricane Irma 04

    Entrance

  • Simpson Park tropical hardwood hammock defoliated and damaged after 2017 Hurricane Irma 05

    Fence damaged and canopy severely defoliated

  • Simpson Park northeast entrance

    Old entrance on northeast at the corner of South Miami Avenue and Broadway (SW 15th Road)

Gallery

  • Simpson hammock park 06

    Artificial creek

  • Simpson hammock park 07

    Artificial pond

  • Simpson hammock park 09

    Fallen trees are cut and left to rot to provide topsoil for new plants

  • Simpson hammock park 10

    Pathway through the hammock with fallen trees

  • Simpson Park Hammock 02

    Another path through the trees

  • Simpson Park Hammock 01

    View of pond

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