On Fort Myers Beach, a short trip off Estero Boulevard east on Bay Road takes you to the Matanzas Park Historic Cottage and the Matanzas Pass Preserve. The cottage is the trailhead for two trails that course through the mangroves, the Caloosa Trail and the Mangrove Trail. A walk on one of the sandy trails takes you to a boardwalk over the tidal flats, where families of raccoons can be seen playing among the roots of the trees. The area is a stop on The Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail for canoes and kayaks, but there is also a fishing pier at the end of the Mangrove Trail that puts fisherman in a secluded and little-used area of the Intracoastal Waterway. Parking is limited, but the rewards of the hike through the woods are a private spot to spend the day fishing - or just relaxing in the quiet of the mangrove forest.