Nice park with lots of places to walk. Lots of birds to see. Not very much shade so be prepared. You can climb the stairs up the tower and have a nice view of the water and the park. Small but nice playground. Lots of open space between the park and the mall for flying kites or planes or running around. Good place for running or biking.

Nice large park to do some running, walking, biking, or rollerblading. Bring your dog to play lakeside or your kids to the shaded playground.Only complaint is that it could use 1 or 2 more permanent restrooms/water fountains on the south side of the lake. Otherwise, great area.

A park to optimize the ways we visit it: walking, biking, sculling; only a swimming area is missing. Easy access, ok parking - not enough handicap spaces. The play area has sufficient shade now. Other areas could use it.

Attended a Keep America Great Rally here today, and saw Mrs. Ivanka Trump! Nice park! Plenty of room! Plenty of parking! GREAT COMPANY!

Great place for a walking running its absolutely beautiful!!

Very relaxing and scenic. Climbed the tower stairs and got some great pictures. Nice area to walk around and enjoy the scenery. Places to picnic along the water. Lots of birds to watch.

Nik Wallenda DareDevil Show

What an incredible place to walk, skate, jog, run or ride a bike.The scenery is beautiful on the pond that hosts rowing events from around the world.Many walkathons and other charity events take place there.The 4th of July celebration is amazing with live bands, food, children’s section

Kids park there is amazing, and they clean it 3 times a day!

Olympic Rowing team park. Well done! Great place for a bike ride or a really long walk. Impressive site!

I went to see Nik Wallenda perform with his family another dare daredevil great show decent Park

The county put up shades and it makes a HUGE difference in terms of how long we can tolerate the sunlight. It filters out A LOT. We love this playground! Not a lot of equipment, but its a nice large space for kids to run around and it requires them to use their creativity.

Took our 7 &10 year old grandchildren and we loved it . We went out on a paddle boat and had great exercise. Personal were great. Cant wait to go back

First Time There! An Easy, Straight Forward 3.5 mile walk. With trail options. Close to major roads & highways. Nice views! And restrooms along the way-

Although it seems flat and boring from the road, NBP is actually a great place to run. There is a long trail of pavement, pretty scenery, lots of people going by on bikes, running, walking, rowing, etc. Though not too crowded, its definitely a happening place. Lots of birds and wildlife in the lake to watch as well. There is plenty of parking and also complimentary sunscreen by the restrooms which is a nice detail.

Greatest running path and climbing tower Ive found

Love this place row! Hot but beautiful water. Just perfect. The race course is gorgeous and very modern. Well maintained! Got spots to eat nearby and the rowers are just wonderful :)! I definetly will be here again.

Great place for jogging, skating, biking, rollerblading, literally any cardio you can think of! Super beautiful park too!

World renowned attraction right in our backyard. Always love visiting Nathan Benderson, especially when we bring the pups.

Great place for the kids to play and the track is the best place in Sarasota for long distance running.

This is a great park to walk around, roller blade,Board, or bicycle down the path. I’ve been out here a few different times. The sunsets always look pretty along the lake. Nice spot for children to play or anyone looking for a quick escape to enjoy the outdoors.

Very nice scenic and modern area. Great place for a long walk, jog, biking, or to take the kids to the playground. It has a very smooth bike trail along a man made lake complete with bicycle repair stations. Apparently, it also serves as an official professional row boat racing area. It is completely modern, and the playground is very nice for toddlers up to pre-teens. I also believe that fishing is allowed as well. Its just a stone throws away from the University Mall, so its a great place to stop by after or before a trip to the mall. Highly recommend if youre in the mood for a long g walk, ride, or just some place to take the kids.

I was there for the Glow Run. I would suggest they have lights at least at foot level along the paths, especially where there are no buildings giving off light, but other than that it is a well designed park. It is a great local for 5-Ks, and other types of events that draw large crowds. Parking can also be an area of improvement, especially where leaving an event is concerned. But I do like the park, and will visit in the future, for other events.

Great place to walk, run. First class facility. Plenty of parking, restroomsand water fountains. Highly recommend.

The park is nice, there are biking and walking trails (covered with asphalt) and there is even a nature trail that runs parallel and close to the walking trail (covered in crushed shells and gravel). There are restrooms and a playground for kids. Overall, its a great place to get some fresh air, go for a stroll, and catch a glimpse of herons, limpkins, ducks, and egrets.

Love this park! Excellent for anyone looking to get some fresh air. Nice paved or shell path. Restrooms, picnic tables, playground.

I love walking here. I try to go often even if just for half an hour. I always take binoculars as there are so many birds to see. Beautiful wading birds and a great number of passerines. Ive seen 3 or 4 kinds of woodpecker on one visit. Its peaceful and pretty and calm. There are public facilities, loos and fountains. Lots of places to stop and sit too. Plus at one end theres a mall! Happy days.

Its a wonderful place for do some outdoor excercise

Amazing walking and biking facility as well as the rowing facility is first rate. Lots to do at Park if you have rowing or other human powered watercraft.

BEAUTIFUL! Just beautiful. I am so happy with this park and how it was built I almost cant put it into words. Me and my partner brought our 8 year old and my 13 year old niece and had a nice time jogging along the palm tree pathways and rowing along the water. We have come here both during the day and night and every time it is pristinely clean and amazingly beautiful. So beyond happy this is here!!

Such a beautiful.place to walk/jog or walk your dog.

Great park in s busy city, it helps to relax. The park has s play ground for kids, bike trail and running trails. Recommend.

Nice Daredevil rally show... Drive in, donation, live show, easy out (depending on parking). Thank you Nick Wallenda!

Great area! Watch fireworks here!

Really nice park. 3.5 miles/5k around the loop. Good for biking, skating, walking, running or just relaxing under the trees.

This a great park for active people. Good playground for all ages with lots of shade.

I absolutely love this park. They have great holiday events for the family. the track is great to run (3.5 miles round) and the views are wonderful.

This park rocks!!! No mosquitos, nice coverage for the whole play area. Also the phone charging station is a big plus. Good amount of sitting spots. Amazing bathrooms and cold water fountains

Very nice place to exercise and walk. My one complaint is lack of water fountains. Especially for dogs. As far as I know there is only one for dogs and it’s by the kid park. After that, we walked the entire path (3 miles) in the sun with no water. Next time I will just tote around a bowl for her.. Just wish I would’ve known beforehand. Great park nonetheless.

Really enjoyed walking my dogs here.The scenery is beautiful. There are picnic tables, benches, dog waste stations, bathrooms, a playground and plenty of room to walk, run, bycical, roller skate or to do whatever. You can come out and watch the rowing competition and the Sarasota Circus has a tent next to the park and the UTC mall is right there. You have many food choices if you get hungry. Another great thing is that its right off of I-75. For me this is great because I drive in from Myakka City.Tge only issue is the gator that lives in the water near the picnic areas. Be aware and safe especially if you have children or pets.

Looking like a great venue for the world rowing championships. The area has a great jogging/walking trail along the waterway. There is also a small park for the kids to enjoy. I myself plan to tackle the great trail in the near future.

Beautiful park. Has trails all around it. You can drive all the way around it or park near the county building for the playground or a bench in the center.However, most of the park is in the sun. This includes the playground. All of the parking is in the sun.

I love this park. Beautiful place to walk, run, skate, skateboard, cycle, canoe, sculling, lounge around, kids section, amenities, fishing, etc... Close to a shopping center.

Great place to walk or go with kids. There is a playground for kids at the main entrance. The entire walkway is paved and encircles the water. The total loop is 3.5 miles. A portion is more of a trail and under beautiful trees.

The layout is great. Clean and plenty of parking spaces.

Great place to walk, ride your bicycle or rent a kayak. ...

Love Nathan Benderson Park and the investment Sarasota county has made to promote the sport of rowing in our community

Great Place to walk or run They have rowing as well kids park and have events often

Who needs a stairmaster?! 126 steps up...124 steps down through door at opposite end. Repeat 10 times no break.

We were looking to get out of the house at the beginning of the social distancing period so we put our bikes in the truck bed and drove south on 75 figuring wed figure it out on the way to no where. We could see the trail from the highway, pulled over and we rode on the trail for a couple hours. Afterwards we found some picnic benches on the west side under trees and had lunch.This was a really cool park.

Great park, gets a little crowded around the holidays but lots of friendly people. 3 mile track (3.4) wraps around the lake. Not a lot of shade on the far side of the track so make sure to wear sunblock and shades on sunny days! Wish we had more big parks like this around south Florida.

Beautiful park very clean I was there for dragon boat racing and had a great time.

Its a great park, facilities are clean, with the added tower i can do steps as part of my exercise..

Police constently circling the park. Is it a crime ridden park? The people seem causual. No protesting or homeless. People were picking up their dogs fecial matter. Although, I did see a lot of people dragging their dogs because its way to hot even at 70 degrees. The sun sets directly over the park so I recommend you come early. Your dogs will appreciate it. Maybe Im missing something....

Nice place the new Tower is great, spectacular views! But being the sunblock and some shade!

Family had a great time watching early 4th of July fireworks show, hell it even landed my kid in the local newspaper lol

Great time with my Family for the Lantern festival. Could have used a few more vendors, as wait times were 60+ minutes, but great facility either way.

Really good place to do anything outside. Sadly its quarantine I recommend getting some gains inside for now

Such a stunningly gorgeous spot, we just moved in right next to the park and the whole area is beautiful, we can’t wait to explore more!

Beautiful lake for taxes, and great facilities, including a shiny new tower, but the fields used for event parking are basically mud pits- not fun to slog through! Relatively few mosquitos, though, and fireworks were great. Parking is cheap, but it took 45 minutes to get out after event.

Excellent exercise and nature facility. Lovely to walk beside the lakes. Lots of birdlife.

Great place to go walk, run, bike, or roller blade.

Beautiful man made lake. Best rowing venue in America!

Nice little park on the water! It mostly caters to young children with its small play equipment, slides and rock climbing wall. But they do have a giant jungle gym for the older kids and a couple of swings. Great place for riding bikes, jogging or walking.

Very relaxing especially for the day I had, I took the kids and I there! It was many people young and old but not as crowded as I expected! Overall a nice area for singles and families!

Nick Wallendas Daredevils with excellent highly recommend you take the whole family friends and neighbors supershow clean restrooms and for every can good you bring for food pantries throughout the US you get $1 off your ticket

So I’ll start by saying I absolutely love this park, it’s a great way to get in all kinds of workouts and the pavilion/waterfront makes it a great gathering place for friends and families, not to mention the amazing events they put on throughout the year. I visit often and plan to continue in doing so.This review is to make Nathan Benderson Park aware of a specific issue/incident, this is worth reading if you ever plan to go to the park in the evening though.That being said, the other night I was there with a friend later than usual and knowing the gates close around 8 or 9, we parked across the street so we wouldn’t bother the person responsible for closing them, as we weren’t sure we’d be finished with our workout before then.Around 9:15, as we were close to finishing our workout heading along Cattleman approaching the south corner near the water tower we were accosted by your security guard who’s opening line was “GET THE F@$& OUT OF HERE BEFORE I CALL THE SHERIFF AND HAVE YOUR A$$ES THROWN IN JAIL!!!” Despite his triggering opener I calmly ask him what the issue was and in what way we were breaking the law by being there attempting to inform him of where we were parked and that we were just finishing up and would be gone shortly, instead of listening to a word I was saying he continued to scream (the above line) over my calm words as if it was his life’s slogan. He then continued to berate us with insults full of vulgar language. I finally left him with “I hope you have a good night sir, and God Bless.” We finished our workout with him shining his spot light on us, screaming insults and threats until we were out of his sight.I am a young professional in the area and an established member of this community, who was born and raised in Sarasota County. I don’t feel I’m entitled to any elevated level of recognition, respect, or treatment because of this, however I would hope this complete departure from any form of common courtesy would bother you as much as it has me.I have a BS in Psychology: Crisis Counseling and have been specifically trained to keep my cool during stressful or confrontative situations. I would hate to see what kind of conflict could have arose from your representatives inflammatory actions, had it been someone of a similar disposition receiving them. For what it is worth, my opinion is that this security guard is not only a poor representative of your community friendly brand, additionally he is a huge potential liability for you, think of the number of horrendous scenarios that could have taken place. (We were on rollerblades at the time how much of a threat did we really pose to warrant such a hostile interference). I pray you don’t allow them to carry firearms, because I would hate to see what could have happened if I had reacted to his inflammatory/volatile behavior rather than responding calmly and respectfully. Situations like those are what my entitled and lazy generations would call a game-changing lawsuit.I debated for days whether to contact you about this, I tried calling but your offices are closed, so I decided to write this review to act as a warning to others wishing to enjoy your beautiful park, and to inform you in hopes that you would take necessary steps to ensure no one is treated this way again.

Great place to ride a bike with family and enjoy some sun in this tough COVID-19 era

Watching the sculling regatta at Benderson Park.The lake and beach are beautiful!

Great location for a running event, like the Florida West Coast Half Marathon that I ran last week. Loved the final floating mile. The park is conveniently located close to I75 and there are many hotels and restaurants around and ample parking too. Beautiful place!

Very, very nice place to walk, bike, rollerblade and just about any exercise youd like to do. Clean and people are respectful. Plenty of parking

Clean, lovely staff, beautiful scenery plenty of picnic tables, clean public bathrooms

Loved this park! Theres something for everyone!

Went to nik walendas drive-in stunt show and had a blast! They had golf carts back and forth to the bathrooms,just done really well for being put together so quickly!

All types of activities are possible. Layed back and chill. Hangout anyplace you would like. Unbelievable safe & smooth walking, riding, cycling, rollerblading, all wheels trails... Bi-level for all speeds & ages. Super awesome environment!!

Very nice what they did here, beautiful area to walk, run, biking etc The only con is that is too close to the highway and it can get noisy in some areas. Then it pretty much connects to another nice walk around the mall lakes. Go to the tower and enjoy a nice view!

Love the outdoors and the park offer walking/ running and biking trail. Has an area for the young ones and a mall on the opposite street. Many shops before you get to the park. Enjoy, youll love it.

Ran here for a competition and it was super nice. Would recommend visiting

Very well organized. Had a great experience

I LOVE this park to let my dog run. It is not super crowded during the week and other dogs have been well behaved that we have come across.

Thank you for the AMAZING fireworks for the 4th this year!! First Class!!

Not too packed and tons of room to run, walk, rollerblade or bike

What a great place to watch sunset! AND if you do the stairs leading up to the topOf the observation tower a few times, you’ll get some great exercise too!

Love biking there, three point three miles, lots of people out blading, boarding or just walking.

Excellent place to go if you want to get outdoors. Theres a place to picnic and get out with the family. If youre interested in jogging, walking, bicycle riding you can go all the way around the lake. Nice concrete sidewalk. Theres also the the world premier boat rowing races going on. Check website for list of next scheduled events and activities.

Beautiful park. Many paths around the lake and under bridges. It was fun to watch the crew team rowers practice.

A great park to run in, it has a large pond for crew and looked like kayaks. Also a playground for the little ones. Been to three 5k races here and had a blast every time

Beautiful sunsets on top of the finish tower!

Nice place to take the kids very clean and safe

Love this park! Great for biking, rollerblading, walking, and running!

The pond is wonderful for rowing events, but the 3 layers of paved border around the park are amazing. People bring children to walk, ride bikes, or use scooters. People walk, ride bikes, or roller blade around the perimeter of this international rowing pond. One of Sarasotas gems.

Nice area and 3.4 mile walking trail, asphalt and gravel trail available. Also, there are picnic tables and restrooms. Lots of events scheduled such as Olympic rowing trials and a triathlon.

Always such a peaceful place for me. Love to turn on my music and enjoy walking around the water

Great venue for Celtic festival. Nice water way and plenty of places to walk or picnic. Excellent for dogs too.

Nice place to ride a bike

Nice place to bike/run/walk. We spent the day fishing.

Nice park. Lots of paths and options for walking around. People go kayaking, biking and rollerblading. Little playground too.

Great place to walk, jog, run, bike and take your kids to the park. Not to mention if you are I to rowing.

Nice place to go exercise, for a picnic or just to breath fresh air

Reviewing specifically the kids playground: this place is awesome for the very young set. If you’ve got toddlers that are just walking, this is the place for you. Lots of little things for them to do, rubber flooring, one gate that locks. Older kids will enjoy it, too, but it’s especially great for littles. Only drawback: no shade. Like, none, unless you’re there very early or very late. Benderson can surely afford some shade sails to make this park more useable in the summer and in the heat of the day.