Lettuce Lake Park is a 240 acre (0.9712464 km²) Hillsborough County

Hillsborough County, Florida

As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...

-run park just outside the city limits

City limits

The terms city limits and city boundary refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limits is sometimes called the city proper. The terms town limits/boundary and village limits/boundary mean the same as city limits/boundary, but apply to towns and villages...

 of Tampa

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. It is located on Fletcher Avenue between Interstate 75

Interstate 75 in Florida

Interstate 75 is a part of the Interstate Highway System and runs from Hialeah, Florida, a few miles northwest of Miami to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan...

 and the University of South Florida

University of South Florida

The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...

. The park opened in 1982.

Lettuce Lake Park features several boardwalk

Boardwalk

A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....

s that wind through a variety Florida ecosystems

Environment of Florida

The state of Florida in the United States possesses a rich and diverse array of land and marine life and a mild subtropical climate. These assets have drawn millions of people to settle in the once rural state over the last hundred years; Florida's population increases by about 1,000 residents each...

; a fresh water wetland

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

 and flood plain, an oak-dominated

Live oak

Live oak , also known as the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States...

 hardwood forest, cypress domes

Taxodium distichum

Taxodium distichum is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States.-Characteristics:...

, and the Hillsborough River

Hillsborough River (Florida)

The Hillsborough River is a river located in the state of Florida in the USA. It arises in the Green Swamp near the juncture of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, and flows through Pasco and Hillsborough Counties to an outlet in the city of Tampa on Tampa Bay. The name Hillsborough River first...

. The park also contains a visitor's center, an observation tower, nature trails, picnic tables, barbecue pits, restrooms, an open play field, and a playground.