For years, the eastern edge of the old Bobby Jones Golf Club property was a place residents drove past on the way to Fruitville or the interstate, not a place anyone walked. That changed on Monday, July 13, when city staff cut the ribbon on Phase One of the Bobby Jones Nature Park, a 110-acre stretch that has been quietly converting from turf and cart paths into wetland and hammock for the better part of two years.
The thesis of this post is narrow. Sarasota residents already have Payne Park, the Legacy Trail spur at Culverhouse, and the Celery Fields for a long, open walk. What the city just added is different in kind, not degree: a shaded, dawn-to-dusk loop inside the city limits that behaves like a preserve rather than a manicured park. Folded into the second half of July, that changes the shape of a resident week more than any of the new restaurants at University Town Center do.
What Actually Opened on July 13
The ribbon cutting on Monday morning celebrated the completion of the first phase of the Bobby Jones Nature Park, and Phase One includes significant habitat restoration: more than 200 native trees and palms planted, along with more than 18,000 native shrubs and grasses, according to the City of Sarasota. The park is listed at 110 acres on the eastern side of the property, with crushed-shell paths and former golf cart routes repurposed into winding walking and bicycling trails surrounding newly created wetlands. Open dawn to dusk. No admission. Leashed dogs allowed.
"We've also improved some of the trail system through the nature park," said Jerry Fogle, Sarasota's Parks and Recreation Director. "It is just gorgeous."
Phase Two is already scoped. City officials say Phase Two will add more amenities, including a bird blind boardwalk, which is expected to begin construction late 2026 or early 2027, and hope to be completed in the later part of 2027. The practical read for residents: what opened this month is the trail-and-planting layer. The wildlife viewing infrastructure is still a year and change out. If you're the kind of walker who cares about where you put a scope or a folding stool, you have time to learn the loop before the boardwalk arrives.
How the Loop Behaves in July
The mid-July walking window in Sarasota is smaller than most residents budget for. Storms roll in most afternoons, and heat index climbs above the low nineties by mid-morning. That squeezes the useful hours into two bands, and the new trail rewards each of them differently.
- Before 8 a.m. Crushed-shell surface holds overnight coolness well. New plantings mean the canopy is not yet mature, so morning sun reaches most of the loop. Best window for bird activity around the constructed wetlands.
- After 6 p.m. The old cart routes on the east side track along tree lines that throw longer shade in the second half of the day. Fewer bikes. More dragonflies. The park closes at dusk, and dusk in late July is close to 8:30.
The park sits at 1000 Circus Blvd, 34232, and follows the park's initial opening in December 2023. That earlier opening covered the golf side. What's new is the nature-park half, which is why residents who visited eighteen months ago and remember scrub and construction fencing will find something meaningfully different now.
The Second-Half-of-July Overlay
A walk is not a plan on its own. The resident question is what to attach it to. The mid-month calendar is denser than the pre-Fourth stretch, and a few anchors sit near enough to Bobby Jones to make a real evening out of a morning trail visit.
The Summer Circus Spectacular runs at The Ringling from July 7 through August 8, which is the long shoulder for family-friendly indoor programming. Florida Studio Theatre has "Dog Mom," a New Play National Rolling Network premiere by Tate Elizabeth Hanyok, directed by Nancy Rominger, running through Aug. 2. Across town, Waterside Place hosts Live Music at The Plaza recurring July 10 through July 31, and Sights + Sounds at Waterside Place featured the Pops Orchestra Jazz Combo on July 10. If you're building a Tuesday, that stack works: early walk, afternoon indoors, Waterside for dinner and music.
For dog owners the calendar is more literal. Barks & Brews: Christmas in July was scheduled at The Green at UTC on July 14, which is the kind of event where the Bobby Jones morning walk pays a second dividend later in the day. Bring a tired dog to a beer garden. Everyone benefits.
Two more pieces of the calendar are worth naming. "Leaving on a Jet Plane," created by Aaron Gundy, features an acoustic trio playing folk from the late 1960s and 1970s, including Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Lovin' Spoonful, running through July 26. And the Midsummer Night Music Festival at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church, 40 N. Adams Drive, opens with Classern Quartet performing "America: Colony to Contemporary". Neither is a Bobby Jones neighbor geographically, but both sit inside the resident week the new trail is entering.
Where to Eat Before or After
The park's Beneva-and-Fruitville location puts a specific set of restaurants inside a short drive, and this year's opening slate has quietly reshaped which ones are worth choosing. Four are worth naming.
- Hob Nob Drive In, a Sarasota original since 1957, closed in 2024 after 67 years and is now back under new ownership with the familiar black-and-white stripes, counter ordering, and a focused menu of smash burgers, chicken tenders, onion rings, fries, and milkshakes. On North Washington Boulevard, a few minutes from the park. This is the post-walk stop.
- Mimi, replacing Adeline on Hillview Street in Southside Village. The location at 1920 Hillview St. won't sit empty for long. Zaki, who also owns downtown favorite 1592 Wood Fired Kitchen & Cocktails and the newer Lucky 8 in Southside Village, plans to transform the space into Mimi, a more casual and affordable restaurant and cocktail lounge, opening in November. Not a July option, but worth marking now if you're mapping the fall.
- Alma de España, which has opened in Sarasota's Southside Village at 1830 S. Osprey Ave., Suite 104, in the former space of vegan restaurant Ka Papa Cuisine. Spanish tapas from a Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta graduate. Evening rather than post-walk.
- Mistero Pizza, one of June's UTC openings. The Miami-born pizzeria from chef Renato Viola brings its signature five-point, star-shaped pies to The Market at UTC. Look for the ricotta-filled Star Luca and the Coffee Paolo, plus calzones, a burrata bar, and a Nutella pizza for dessert. Dough is made with imported Italian flour and proofed 72 hours. Ten minutes north if you're extending the walk into a UTC afternoon.
The through-line matters. A resident deciding where to eat this week has more genuinely new options than at almost any point in the past year. Between January and August 2025, Sarasota alone welcomed 41 new restaurant openings, while tourist dining spending across the region surged by 17 percent year over year, according to the Sarasota-Manatee Restaurant Report. Whether that pace continues is a separate question. The immediate consequence is that the map around the new park has more good stops on it than it did last summer.
The Local Move for the Rest of July
Put simply, this is the two-week window to learn the Bobby Jones trail loop before the fall rhythm returns and before Phase Two construction fencing starts appearing near the future bird blind. Walk it early on a weekday. Try it once at dusk. Pair one visit with a Ringling Summer Circus matinee, one with a Waterside Place evening, and one with a Hob Nob milkshake. The rest of the year, the trail will be there. The novelty of walking a stretch of restored wetland on land that used to be a fairway is a July-2026 experience, and it fades quickly once residents absorb it into ordinary routine.
If you're weighing a move within Sarasota, or thinking about how the east-of-Beneva neighborhoods feel now that a 110-acre park sits at their doorstep, that's a conversation worth having with someone who tracks the block-by-block texture rather than the county averages. Angela Adams works those blocks every week with Michael Saunders & Company, and the free home valuation on her site is a straightforward first step. Get Your Free Home Valuation and start there.
