Lake Parker is a lake located on the northeast side of the city of

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

. It is the largest lake in the city of Lakeland. The lake is relatively shallow with an average depth of . The lake has inflow from several lakes in Lakeland including Lake Mirror and Lake Bonny. Lake Parker outflows to both Saddle Creek and the

Peace River The Peace River () is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to form the ...

making the lake important for ecological reasons. To control

hydrilla ''Hydrilla'' (waterthyme) is a genus of aquatic plant, usually treated as containing just one species, ''Hydrilla verticillata'', though some botanists divide it into several species. It is native to the cool and warm waters of the Old World in A ...

various pesticides are utilized. The lake bears the name of Streaty Parker, a pioneer settler.The Ledger

Recreation

Lake Parker is one of the more popular lakes in Lakeland for recreational use, particularly for fishing and boating. There are three boat ramps and two fishing piers around the lake for those purposes. The lake is well stocked with

Largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

, and

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxi ...

. There is also a path around a portion of the lake and a few parks located on or near the lake. The

Lake-to-Lake Trail The Lake-to-Lake Trail is an urban network of paved multi-use paths that runs between numerous lakes in Lakeland, Florida. The southern terminus of the trail can be accessed from the shores of Lake John. From there, the trail circles Lake H ...

starts here and continues through downtown Lakeland, ending at Lake John.

References

* "Lake Parker Overview and Current Projects", retrieved fro
publicworks moved
on 6 September 2010. * "Polk County Florida Fishing", retrieved fro

on 6 September 2010.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker Lakes of Polk County, Florida Lakeland, Florida