
Pinecrest Gardens
Former free-flight bird park turned lush botanical garden with mosaic paths and hardwood hammocks.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Pinecrest Gardens goes back to 1936, when an immigrant named Franz Scherr bought this stretch of pine rockland and tried an idea nobody else was attempting: letting exotic birds fly free above visitors instead of caging them. You'll hear about Winston Churchill's odd 1946 visit with two live turkeys in tow, and about the trained birds Scherr's Parrot Jungle became known for, including a cockatoo taught to ride a tiny bicycle along a tightrope. Listen for how the mosaic paths and hardwood hammocks around you trace back to that original free-flight idea.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Jungle Island
Cage-free tropical bird park turned animal encounter park on a bayfront island, home to parrots, lemurs, and reptiles.
Monkey Jungle
Subtropical forest preserve where visitors walk caged pathways while hundreds of monkeys roam free overhead.
Zoo Miami
Sprawling free-range wildlife park with cage-less, moated habitats for thousands of animals from around the world.
Crandon Park
Waterfront park on a coconut plantation, with a beach and the overgrown ruins of a historic zoo.
The Kampong, National Tropical Botanical Garden
Tropical garden estate once home to a pioneering plant explorer, filled with exotic species.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
Eighty-three-acre tropical garden of rare palms, cycads and orchids built around a network of lakes.