Lettuce Lake Park Visitor Guide

Lettuce Lake Park at 6920 East Fletcher Avenue opens at 8 AM year round, closes at 7 PM in spring and summer and at 6 PM in fall and winter, and charges $2 per vehicle.

The $2 entry is cash only and covers up to 8 people in one vehicle, with rentals charged on top (Hillsborough County, Lettuce Lake Park). The park office number posted for Lettuce Lake is (813) 987-6204. The county page lists no card option for the daily entry fee.

Frequent visitors to Lettuce Lake and the other Hillsborough County conservation parks can buy an annual hang tag instead: $50 for an individual pass and $100 for a family pass (Hillsborough County, park passes). The family tag admits up to 8 people in one vehicle; the individual tag covers one person, and each extra passenger pays $1. Hillsborough County residents age 65 and older get 25 percent off individual and family entrance passes, and residents who are 100 percent disabled get 50 percent off with proof of residency and disability. The passes do not cover camping, canoe rentals or boat ramps.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, on the Hillsborough County Lettuce Lake Park, park pass and conservation park rules pages.

Parts of the Lettuce Lake boardwalk, picnic shelters 5 and 7, the observation tower and the canoe and kayak launch are closed for repair or reconstruction under a Hillsborough County notice updated August 13, 2026, still posted on October 18, 2026.

In the order the Lettuce Lake page gives them, the closure lines say that sections of the boardwalk will be closed for repair; while the boardwalk is under repair, shelters 5 and 7 are closed; the observation tower is closed during reconstruction; and the kayak and canoe launch is closed during reconstruction (Hillsborough County, Lettuce Lake closure notices). Rentals are suspended, and private boats cannot use the launch either, so a paddler bringing a personal kayak to the Hillsborough River at Lettuce Lake has no put-in there for now.

The same Lettuce Lake page still prints the canoe and kayak rental rates and says boats can be rented at the entry station, which conflicts with the suspension notice above it. The notice carries its own date, 8/13/26, matching the page's last modified date of 8/13/2026, while the rental lines carry no date, so the dated notice is the statement that describes the launch as of the October 18, 2026 check.

The county page does not give a reopening date for the Lettuce Lake tower or launch. Paved paths, the playgrounds, the visitors center and the shelters other than 5 and 7 are not named in the notice. The park phone posted on the county page is (813) 987-6204.

Lettuce Lake Park has a 3,500-foot boardwalk with an observation tower over the Hillsborough River, a 1.25-mile paved exercise trail, wooded picnic areas, a visitors center and a native plant garden.

On the county page, more than half of the property lies in the natural floodplain of the Hillsborough River, consisting of a hardwood swamp forest, and the remainder is hardwood hammocks and pine flatwoods (Hillsborough County, Lettuce Lake Park). The county also calls Lettuce Lake one of its most popular parks, and says the observation tower provides scenic views of the Hillsborough River.

The visitors center at Lettuce Lake has displays about local nature and history, and the park also has a native plant garden. A county event listing names the building the Joel Jackson Visitor's Center (Hillsborough County, Native Plant Walk listing).

For children, Lettuce Lake gained two new playgrounds in 2024 with swings, adaptive and sensory equipment, and a scavenger hunt in which children look for medallions that identify animals and plants (Lettuce Lake Park page). The amenity list also includes a boat dock, barbecue grills, picnic shelters and restrooms.

Lettuce Lake lies largely in the Hillsborough River floodplain, and the county's hiking safety guidance warns that during the rainy season many trails will have standing water (Hillsborough County, rules and expectations). The same guidance asks visitors to read a destination's webpage for announcements such as trail closures before they go, which at Lettuce Lake means the boardwalk notice.

Dogs are allowed at Lettuce Lake Park on a hand-held leash, but pets and bicycles are not permitted on the boardwalk, and propane or gas grills are not permitted anywhere in the park.

The Lettuce Lake amenity list includes pets allowed, and the boardwalk restriction is stated on the same page (Hillsborough County, Lettuce Lake Park). A dog walk at Lettuce Lake therefore stays off the boardwalk. A county native plant walk listing repeats the point: dogs were not allowed on that walk because they are not permitted on the boardwalk (Native Plant Walk listing).

The Hillsborough County rules for all conservation parks require pets to be restrained on a hand-held leash, with their waste scooped and put in the trash (Hillsborough County, rules and expectations). The same rules say all plants and animals are protected, no hunting is allowed, visitors stay on marked trails, and bikes, horses and campfires are allowed only in specified areas of certain parks. No unauthorized vehicles are allowed.

Lettuce Lake has barbecue grills among its amenities, but the county notes that grill policies vary by park and that propane and gas grills are not permitted at Lettuce Lake Conservation Park (Lettuce Lake Park page). For anything the posted rules do not cover, the county lists (813) 829-2626 for conservation park questions and points to Chapter 38 of the county code.

The Lettuce Lake page posts no fishing rule of its own; Hillsborough County requires a valid Florida fishing license in all of its parks and nature preserves, and where fishing is allowed, state regulations apply.

Hillsborough County states that anyone fishing in its parks and nature preserves must hold a valid Florida fishing license, and that where fishing is allowed, state regulations apply (Hillsborough County, rules and expectations). The Lettuce Lake page lists a boat dock among its amenities but does not post a separate fishing rule for the park.

The two agencies word the license rule differently. The county FAQ says a valid Florida fishing license is required to fish in all Hillsborough County parks and preserves and names no exemptions, while the FWC license page exempts, among others, anglers under 16 and Florida residents 65 or older with proof of age or residency, such as a Florida driver license or ID card (FWC, Do I need a license?). Neither page addresses Lettuce Lake by name.

Lettuce Lake picnic shelters are reserved through the Hillsborough County Conservation online registration system, and the county's March 7, 2026 native plant walk started behind the visitor's center.

The Lettuce Lake page sends shelter renters to the Conservation online registration system under the county Rent Picnic Shelters and Meeting Rooms section (Hillsborough County, Lettuce Lake Park). Under the August 13, 2026 notice, shelters 5 and 7 are closed while the boardwalk is under repair.

The county event listing for the March 7, 2026 Native Plant Walk at Lettuce Lake describes the format: a representative of the Suncoast Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society leads the group from the native plant garden along the trails and boardwalk to see what grows naturally in the hardwood swamp (Hillsborough County, Native Plant Walk listing). The walk began at 9:30 AM, participants were told to expect 2 miles, and the group met at the Joel Jackson Visitor's Center. The program was free, but the $2 per vehicle entry fee still applied, and water and close-toed shoes were required.

The listing says the Suncoast Native Plant Society began in 1983 as the Suncoast Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. The Lettuce Lake page carries an events calendar where county programs at the park are listed.