There's a screech owl, a tank of young alligators and a bird feeder that pulls in painted buntings, all tucked inside a 1,659-acre county park west of West Palm. Okeeheelee Nature Center sits on 90 acres of pine flatwoods and wetlands inside Okeeheelee Park, right off Forest Hill Blvd, and the trails behind it are free to walk every single day from sunrise to sunset.

The painted buntings start showing up at the feeders in late fall and stick around through early spring, so the next few months are the best time to go. Here's how to do it right.

What's Inside the Exhibit Hall

The first thing you see is a life-size Clyde Butcher photo of a hardwood hammock, part of an exhibit that walks you through the three major ecosystems of Palm Beach County. Kids can build a bird, spin the Sea Turtle Wheel of Fortune and poke around real artifacts with magnifying lenses.

The observation room is where the live animals are. You'll find a screech owl, young alligators, snakes, turtles and an opossum, and the room has a viewing window that looks right out on an active bird feeder and a quiet pond. If you have toddlers, the Discovery Zone has puppets, puzzles and books set up alongside live tortoises and snakes. There's also a small nature gift shop on the way out.

To be honest about the size, the building itself is small. It's a great 30 to 45 minutes with kids, but the trails are what turn this into a whole morning.

2.5 Miles of Trails Out Back

The trails start right behind the nature center and wind for 2.5 miles through pine flatwoods and wetlands, with a mix of paved paths and packed limestone walkways and a few pond overlooks along the way. It's an easy, flat walk, and you can cut it short whenever the kids are done.

Keep your eyes on the ground and the trees. Gopher tortoises are a common sight grazing along the trails, so look for their burrows too, but give them space because they're a protected species. On the Wildlife Trail there's a deer enclosure overlook where you might spot white-tailed deer. The butterfly garden is full of atala butterflies feeding on coontie plants, and they were once endangered. Wood ducks, the nature center's mascot, nest in boxes around the ponds and marsh in winter and spring.

A few rules before you go: no pets, no food, no bikes and no jogging on the nature trails. This is a slow, quiet walk by design.

Then Make a Day of the Park

Once you're back at the car, the rest of Okeeheelee Park is right there. It has 8 miles of paved bike path running past the lakes, a 27-hole golf course made up of three nine-hole courses (with a snack bar), a BMX track, and Pooch Pines if the dog came along. There are also picnic areas with grills, which is the move since food isn't allowed on the nature trails. If you want to get out on the water, Kayak King runs rentals inside the park (561-304-1344).

The Insider Move

Saturday is the only day the exhibit hall opens in the morning. It opens at 10 AM on Saturday, but not until 1 PM Wednesday through Friday, and it's closed Sunday through Tuesday. So get to the trails early while the park is quiet, then walk in at 10 and grab a spot at the viewing window. The bird feeders sit both in front of and behind the building, and that's where the buntings show up.

Two more tips: the nature center is about a mile into the park from the Forest Hill Blvd entrance, so follow the signs once you pull in. And if you want a guided experience, the center runs public programs like guided walks and owl prowls. Check the county's Upcoming Public Programs page before you go.

What People Are Saying

Birders are the loudest fans. One regular on BirdForum said that after a couple of visits, Okeeheelee finally lived up to its birding-hotspot reputation, with multiple male and female painted buntings in one weekend and gopher tortoises crossing paths on the way out. A Coastal Star feature called it a favorite for birders and for anyone who just wants a quiet walk, and named painted buntings and the gopher tortoise population as its biggest draws.

Families tend to mention the friendly staff and the guided nature tours, along with paved paths that work for strollers. The honest critique is that the indoor exhibits are small and you can sometimes hear traffic from the trails. Go for the trails and the wildlife, and treat the exhibit hall as a bonus.

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