Most neighborhoods have a park. Avenir has a conservation area bigger than some towns: more than 2,400 acres of restored Florida wilderness, starting just past the front doors of Coral Isles.
It wasn’t always wild
This land used to be the Vavrus Ranch. Wetlands were drained with canals and the native plants were replaced with pasture grass for cattle. Over the past several years, Avenir’s developers and EW Consultants have been reversing that. They’ve pulled out invasive plants, filled in canals so water can soak back into the ground, and replanted native habitats: freshwater marsh, strand swamp, pine flatwoods and prairie.
Who moved back in
More than 100 species of plants and animals now live here. Look for:
- Great blue herons, egrets and roseate spoonbills in the marshes
- Ospreys and swallow-tailed kites overhead
- Otters, white-tailed deer and the occasional alligator
- Protected species like the gopher tortoise and eastern indigo snake
- Sandhill cranes and round-tailed muskrats, which are found almost nowhere outside Florida
Bigger than Avenir
The conservation area works as a wildlife corridor. It links the Loxahatchee Slough and Grassy Waters Preserve, with connections stretching toward Lake Okeechobee and Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
Getting out there
Trails run through the community, and the Avenir Walk Club is a good way in. The women’s walking group has already grown past 200 members since starting this summer. Coming in fall 2027 is Gardens Nature Park and Trail, a $3 million city park on land Avenir donated. It’s planned to include a butterfly habitat, an education pavilion and a fishing pier.
Featured in Avenir The Magazine, Nov/Dec 2026.