More than 200 acres of park space cover Dunedin, a small town on Florida’s west coast with plenty of natural landscapes to explore. If you visit the lakefront Josiah Cephas Weaver Park in the evening, you’ll find locals sitting on the docks waiting for the colorful sunset, looking out for dolphins and manatees in the water. The 2.5-mile Dunedin Causeway, hovering over the Saint Joseph Sound’s bright blue waters, leads you from Dunedin over to pristine, white-sand beaches at Honeymoon Island State Park. You can find one of the last remaining slash pine forests here, where unspoiled beaches meet Florida swamp grounds. To the east of the Dunedin area is the Mobbly Bayou Wilderness, where pedestrian-friendly trails extend across miles of lush mangrove forests and salty coastal waters filled with the twisted trunks of mangrove trees are home to some of South Florida’s colorful bird population, including the brown pelican and blue heron. Over at Dunedin Marina, fishers cast their lines for snook, head out dolphin-spotting, and hop on ferries to Clearwater Beach.

Dunedin is warm and humid from the latter half of spring through summer and mid-fall. Outside of these months, the humidity goes down and the weather becomes cool and pleasant. Winter’s comfortable weather is a great time to explore part of the 38-mile Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail on foot or via rental bike. The path is a former railroad turned pedestrian trail, which runs from Dunedin to small towns further south. Summer is the hottest and rainiest time of year. Dunedin’s namesake beach on Honeymoon Island State Park is only a 15-minute drive away, offering a sweeping expanse of white sand and swim-friendly turquoise waters to cool off in. Spring and fall are cooler than summer but still warm. If you’re visiting between November and June, the open-air Dunedin Downtown Market takes place at Pioneer Park every Friday and Saturday, where vendors sell handmade crafts, jewelry, and food accompanied by live music.

Caladesi Island State Park

A short car ride over Clearwater Bay will lead you across palm tree-lined Highway 60 from Dunedin to Caladesi Island State Park. The park is one of the few protected barrier islands in the state, with preserved beaches and rich mangrove forests whose undulating tree roots rise above the waterline. You can head out on the water and follow the one-mile, tree-shaded kayak trail, which begins at the Caladesi Island Marina.

Hammock Park

Five miles of trails wind through mangrove and oak trees at Dunedin’s 90-acre Hammock Park. From the butterfly garden, you can follow the quarter-mile Fern Trail wooden boardwalk, surrounded by Florida’s native sword ferns and leather ferns. As you wander through sections of the trail that pass through dense woods, owls, vultures, and colorful birds like the cardinal and blue jay often make appearances.

Dunedin History Museum

A few streets back from waterfront Edgewater Park, Dunedin History Museum is housed in a former railroad station from the late 1800s. It showcases nearly 5,000 historical photographs and artifacts from the town’s past. The exhibits take visitors on a journey of how Dunedin’s former railroad — and its role as a hub in the citrus industry — helped build Florida’s success throughout the 1900s.