::  Simpson Park
85 SW 17 Road
Date Designated: January 7, 2014

Simpson Park is a natural preserve that encompasses eight acres of tropical hardwood hammock in the center of Miami’s urban core. The term hammock is used in the southeastern United States to refer to a stand of trees that form an ecological island within a contrasting ecosystem. In South Florida, there are two types of hammocks: low hammock and high hammock. Low hammock is a stand of hardwood trees located within a wetlands, for instance in the Everglades. High Hammock is a stand of hardwood trees and associated understory plants located along a porous limestone ridge, usually an “island” within a pineland.