North of the Del Prado Boulevard traffic, at 3115 Del Prado Blvd. N., the city owns about 198 acres of pine flatwoods, oak hammocks and cypress forest, with man-made freshwater features mixed in. The City of Cape Coral scheduled a public ribbon-cutting there for 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30, to celebrate the opening of Yellow Fever Creek Preserve. The invitation promised staff-led guided tours and animal encounters after the ceremony, and it asked visitors to wear rubber boots or shoes that could get dirty.
That advice about boots fits the preserve as it stands. Paperwork for the three boardwalks meant to carry people over the wettest ground only cleared City Council this September. Yellow Fever Creek is opening as a first phase, and so did every other major Cape Coral park that opened in 2026. If you plan your visits around that, you'll enjoy them more.
What the City Lists for Opening
The city's opening announcement lists these amenities:
- Individual and group campsites
- Nature trails
- A fishing pond
- A disc golf course
- An outdoor classroom
- A welcome center
- Restrooms
The preserve is larger than the city's piece of it. According to the Cape Coral Breeze, Lee County owns and manages the parcel next door, and together the two make up about 525 acres. The city's final site plan shows asphalt trails, pavilions, primitive and group campsites, a disc golf area and existing trails, plus paved and unpaved parking. Early proposal coverage in 2024 described 20 primitive individual campsites and three group sites. The city hasn't published a final count, so treat those numbers as the plan, not the finished inventory.
The Boardwalks Come Next
On Sept. 3, the Cape Coral Breeze reported that City Council had approved the second amendment to Ordinance 51-26, an agreement with the South Florida Water Management District. The district's permission is needed for this "passive recreation" project. The necessary permit would allow three boardwalks totaling 2,205 linear feet, each ending in a 120-square-foot viewing platform.
The Breeze gave the reason too. Parks and Recreation planned the boardwalks because the existing access points and trails did not fully support public access or environmental education. A Tourist Development Council grant is paying for them, and Councilmember Bill Steinke thanked the county at the meeting:
"Thanks to the county and TDC to provide the funding for the boardwalks to go in that spot."
The district's role goes back almost 30 years. In 1997 the city gave the South Florida Water Management District a 23.5-acre perpetual conservation easement inside the preserve. That easement was part of the mitigation for building the North Del Prado Boulevard Extension, the same road that now leads visitors to the gate. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was added as a third-party beneficiary in 2021. That history helps explain why the boardwalks needed the district's permission and are arriving after the rest of the preserve.
Thirty-Two Months Past the Original Date
The preserve itself took a long time. On the city's GO bond project page, the July 2026 update listed the original completion date as February 2024. It called construction 99% complete and behind schedule, said liquidated damages had been assessed through Aug. 7, 2025, and said the contractor had been removed from the site. A new construction manager finished the work needed to open the park, and the surety's general contractor handled the repairs the buildings needed to pass occupancy.
The city's August 2024 parks report shows the earlier stage. It listed a $5,739,321 contract and put the project at 80% complete six months after the original deadline. So getting from 80% to the scheduled opening took more than two years. From February 2024 to an Oct. 30, 2026 ribbon-cutting is 32 months.
The Same Pattern Across the 2026 Bond Parks
In 2018, Cape Coral voters approved a $60 million, 15-year Parks GO bond for new and improved parks. In 2026 that program finally produced its biggest openings, and each one came with something still listed as future work.
| Park | Opened | Still to come |
|---|---|---|
| Jaycee Park | April 30, 2026 | Food truck court, listed as "coming soon" |
| Festival Park | Aug. 14, 2026 | Concessions and restroom building, electrical for a future amphitheater |
| Yellow Fever Creek Preserve | Ribbon-cutting set for Oct. 30, 2026 | Three boardwalks, 2,205 linear feet, approved by Council in September 2026 |
| Crystal Lake Park | July 2025 | None listed on the city page |
Jaycee Park is fully usable without its food trucks. It has a lighted riverfront boardwalk and overlook, pathways with cooling misters, an inclusive playground, a 5,000-square-foot splash pad, a bandshell, beach volleyball courts, and cornhole, pool and shuffleboard tables. An earlier agreement for a private restaurant there was ended, and City Council will decide food and beverage plans for the park later.
Festival Park has two artificial turf soccer fields, two natural grass soccer fields, festival grounds, a walking path and the Seahawk Airfield. For now it works as a sports and events field. The amphitheater exists only as wiring in the plans.
Two neighborhood parks show the other side of the program. The city says Lake Meade Park and Tropicana Park are no longer paid for by the bond, largely because costs rose unexpectedly. Tropicana is listed as construction complete, and Lake Meade is still being designed. On Lake Meade's project page, the city says it received a site concept and cost estimate on May 22, 2026 and expects full design to be finished in early 2027.
Before You Load the Car for Yellow Fever Creek
The preserve's project page doesn't list daily hours, a camping reservation process or campsite fees yet. The city's nature trails page says the parks it lists are open from sunrise to 9 p.m. daily, but Yellow Fever Creek isn't on that list yet. The city runs registration for its programs and activities through its WebTrac online registration portal. Before planning a visit or an overnight stay, contact the Parks and Recreation Department through CapeCoral.gov to confirm the preserve's hours and how camping is booked. The city lists trails, a fishing pond and a disc golf course among the amenities, and the rubber boots from the ribbon-cutting invitation are still good advice.
Other Dates on the Cape Calendar
The next big public events are on Cape Coral Parkway, not in the new parks. The Veterans Day Parade starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7. It runs west along the south side of Cape Coral Parkway from Cape Coral Street to Chester Street. The Holiday Festival of Lights follows on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 4 to 10 p.m., along Cape Coral Parkway from Del Prado Boulevard to Candia Street.
If you want dinner after an afternoon on the north end trails, The News-Press reported that Luigi Ristorante Italiano reopened on Sept. 18 at 3816 Chiquita Blvd., after moving from Del Prado Boulevard.
Our team at Potter Trinity tracks Cape Coral's public projects the same way we track a build, from permit to platform. That includes the Yellow Fever Creek boardwalks between now and their completion. If you'd like to talk through what the city's park investments mean for your part of the Cape, Schedule Your Consultation with one of our senior advisors.
