Matanzas Pass Preserve

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Matanzas Pass Preserve is a 60-acre protected area in Lee County, Florida, about one mile south of the Matanzas Pass Bridge on Estero Island, Fort Myers Beach. The preserve has trails and a paddle craft landing and sits along the Great Calusa Blueway paddling trail. A group called Friends of Matanzas Pass Preserve helps maintain it. The main entrance is on Bay Road behind Beach Elementary School, near the Estero Island Historic Cottages.

In 1974, local photographer John Dunning bought the property from Martha Redd’s estate and donated 22 acres to The Nature Conservancy. The preserve was dedicated on January 20, 1979, and includes one of the area’s last maritime oak hammocks. In 1994, The Nature Conservancy donated the land to Lee County.