Exploring the World With Pokémon Go: Sanlando Park
My next stop took me to Sanlando Park. Even after predicting that I would enjoy myself, I wasn’t prepared for how amazing this park is. Let’s see what I found.
Sanlando Park is massive. Just like one of my prior adventures, I spotted signs pointing out all the areas of interest. I didn’t know where to start. There were three different paths that started in the parking lot. And all of those in turn had branching paths of their own.
What made my decision was realizing how crowded the middle area was. So, I decided to hang right and head to the hiking trails first. I’m glad that I made this choice. Unlike many adventures, I think the best part came first.
The Trails:
I don’t talk about it much, but I love hiking in the woods. It had been a long time since I got to go for a proper walk beneath tree for an extended amount of time. But Sanlando Park with its many choices of activities gave me such a chance. With multiple ways to walk and plenty of spots to being and end an adventure, this park seems like the perfect place for someone who isn’t sure if they want to give hiking a try a chance to get their feet wet.
I wasn’t the only one to visit such a beautiful park. Plenty of other people came by. Since Covid, this might be one of the most crowded parks I have visited in some time. Not sure if that is good or not though. Given that information, it makes sense that some of the above pictures were taken at odd angles.
For the next part of my adventure around Sanlando Park, I went all the way to the northern end. There is a small gap between this park and my next destination. I’ll cover that adjacent park in my next blog post. So no need to focus on it.
The trail became a lot more dirt and a lot less pavement. But that is fine. You get that authentic hiking feeling this way. At the very back of the trail, I managed to get some landmarks that really belong to the adjacent park. Specifically the spots used for softball. Spoiler alert, the next area is a large softball field. There this time I mean it when I say no more about the next park.
Tennis Courts Everwhere:
After making my way to the northern edge of Sanlando Park, I returned to the middle section. I had skipped this part at the start given how crowded it was. Things didn’t change after the thirty minutes or so I had spent on the trail earlier.
What I found here was something relatively unique. I have been to parks with tennis courts before. But never to a place that had the sheer number that this park does. I think there were around 30 different spots. And all of them required a reservation. I’m fairly certain that this section of the park is the main draw and the reason most people come here.
Hidden Spots:
My thoughts on the above point were only became clearer in the next section of Sanlando Park. An entire side of a building had award after award. Seems the trails that I explored first are only an afterthought. Sanlando Park is tailored for Tennis. It didn’t bother me too much though. I might not play that sport, but there was plenty to see and do here despite that.
Notably, I still had the other section of the park to explore. This area has a basketball court and a trail that leads back to the Seminole Wekiva Trail. I was interested in this last part especially since it took me right back to where I stopped my last adventure.
However, while playing Pokémon Go, I noticed that there was an entire section of the park I missed. Cleverly hidden by forest, I went back to where I started to find what I past by the first time. I found an entire section of Sanlando Park dedicated to workout machines. With a set path to complete a workout in, I might come back here in the future just to give this workout series a try.
Covid has not been good to my body. I have gained way too much weight and have felt sick a lot. The best thing for me to do would be to use all those muscles again.
Pokémon Go:
Where do I even begin with Sanlando Park when it comes to Pokémon Go? This park was absolutely incredible. There are Pokestops almost everywhere. Not to mention plenty of gyms scattered about. With nonstop spawns the entire journey I had to pass up plenty of Pokémon just to not sit on one spot too long.
If you want to go somewhere different and play Pokémon Go, this is the place. The spawns here are just as good as the ones at Cranes Roost and Lake Eola. Two other spots that I play Pokémon Go. And there are more Pokestops here than at Cranes Roost to boot.
No matter what reason you choose to come to Sanlando Park, you won’t be disappointed, I can promise that.