Bonita Beach is open this season. Its two biggest county park lots are not. Since Sept. 8, construction fencing has surrounded Bonita Beach Park at 27954 Hickory Blvd. and Little Hickory Island Beach Park at 26082 Hickory Blvd., and the county scheduled the paid lot at Bonita Beach Access No. 1 to close starting this month.
That leaves a beach with a different layout this winter. The fences went up around the full-service end, with restrooms, pavilions and a pay-by-the-hour lot. The parking still on Hickory Boulevard is free and comes in small pieces, and a $3 ride from U.S. 41 does what the big lots used to do. Your usual beach routine still works this season if you start it somewhere else.
Why the fences went up now, and for how long
The work is Hurricane Ian restoration that the county could start once its federal reimbursement came through, so local taxpayer dollars won't cover it, Gulf Coast News reported in September. The county expects most of these projects to take about 11 months. Counted from the Sept. 8 start, that works out to around late summer 2027. Treat that as a rough guide, since the county has not set a reopening date for any of the Bonita sites.
Each site has its own list of repairs:
| Site | Address | What's happening | Getting onto the sand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonita Beach Park | 27954 Hickory Blvd. | Repairs to a county office building, the restroom, boardwalks and pavilions | Walk in through Access No. 1 |
| Little Hickory Island Beach Park, Access No. 10 | 26082 Hickory Blvd. | Restoring structures, boardwalks and pavilions, and replacing the restroom building the hurricane destroyed | Beach stays open, and the county planned to relocate the portable restrooms outside the fence near the road |
| Bonita Beach Access No. 1 | 27890 Hickory Blvd. | Restoration begins in November, and the parking lot closes | Pedestrian access stays open during construction |
Access No. 1 is the one to watch. When the September closures started, it became the main way to walk onto the Bonita Beach Park stretch. Its own lot charged $2 an hour and took the Lee County Parks and Recreation annual parking pass. The county's Access No. 1 page says the lot is closed to patrons starting November 2026, and the walkway onto the beach stays open. It never had restrooms of its own. Beachgoers there used the ones at Bonita Beach Park next door, and those are now behind the fence.
The free accesses weren't part of the closure
The county's September closure notice covers Bonita Beach Park, Little Hickory and Access No. 1. It doesn't include the eight smaller accesses in between, and those are the free ones. Lee County's facility page for Accesses #2 through #9 says plainly that all eight are free to park.
Here they are from north to south along Hickory Boulevard:
- Access #2, 27720 Hickory Blvd.
- Access #3, 27494 Hickory Blvd.
- Access #4, 27260 Hickory Blvd.
- Access #5, 27010 Hickory Blvd.
- Access #6, 26786 Hickory Blvd.
- Access #7, 26590 Hickory Blvd.
- Access #8, 26410 Hickory Blvd.
- Access #9, 26220 Hickory Blvd.
On the map, the closures fall at both ends of this stretch. Access No. 1 and Bonita Beach Park sit at the north end, and Little Hickory, Access No. 10, sits at the south end, just past #9 at 26220. Everything between them is still free to park, according to the county. That makes the money side of a beach day simpler this year. A four-hour afternoon at Access No. 1 used to cost $8 at $2 an hour. The parking still on the road costs nothing.
A few rules apply at all eight accesses: no pets, no fires and no grilling on the beach. The county's page also advises beach shoes at all times. It says Bonita's beaches and beach parks haven't been restored to pre-Ian conditions and that debris keeps washing ashore and can end up hidden under the sand.
The $3 ride does the work the big lots used to do
The free accesses solve the cost question. The county's answer for crowding and capacity is LeeTran's ULTRA On Demand, an app-booked ride that connects central Bonita Springs with Bonita Beach Park and also picks up and drops off anywhere in its service zone.
Here's how it works this season:
- Park free in the shopping center lot at 3300 Bonita Beach Road SW. The pickup point is at the northwest corner of U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road.
- Book your ride in the ULTRA app, or call 239-533-8726 and choose option 7.
- Ride to the beach access you want. A LeeTran official told WINK News the fare is $3 one way to destinations in the Bonita Springs service zone, beach access points included.
- Watch the clock. The LeeTran Bonita Springs ULTRA brochure lists service from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and the last trip request has to be in by 5:30 p.m.
The 5:30 p.m. cutoff matters on Bonita Beach. In late fall and winter, sunset at the beach comes close to the end of service, so if you want to stay for sunset, it's easier to drive to one of the free accesses. The shuttle suits midday beach visits.
Up the coast, more people are already making this switch. WINK reported that LeeTran's Route 490 beach trolley carried more than 73,000 riders in 2026 through early September, about 40% more than the same period the year before. Route 410, which runs along Fort Myers Beach between Bowditch Point and Lovers Key, was up about 62%.
When you'd rather pay for a full park
Some days call for a bigger setup than a small free access offers. Two parks with entry gates sit at either end of Bonita's shoreline, each with its own price.
Lovers Key State Park, to the north. The Florida State Parks hours and fees page lists $8 per vehicle for two to eight people, $4 for a single-occupant vehicle or motorcycle, and $2 for pedestrians, bicyclists and extra passengers. The park is open from 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days a year. For a car with four people, $8 covers everyone for the day. That's the same as four hours in the old Access No. 1 lot.
Barefoot Beach Preserve, to the south in Collier County. Collier County Parks lists the preserve as open year-round from 8 a.m. to sunset, with a $10 fee to park unless you have a Collier County Resident Beach Parking Permit. The county also lists a separate Barefoot Beach Access just off Bonita Beach Road on Lely Barefoot Boulevard.
That permit is issued by Collier County, not Lee. Collier's beach parking information page sets out who qualifies and how, and visitors without one pay through Mobile Pay to Park. Unless the car you're parking carries a valid Collier permit, plan on the $10 at Barefoot.
Put side by side, this season's beach day costs line up like this. The eight Hickory Boulevard accesses are free. Two people taking the ULTRA shuttle pay $12 round trip. A carload at Lovers Key pays $8. A car at Barefoot without a Collier permit pays $10. For the next several months, the paid lot at Access No. 1 and the big park lots are the options off the table.
Where restrooms fit in
Restroom access has changed more than anything else. Bonita Beach Park's restroom is under repair, and Little Hickory's restroom building is being replaced. At Little Hickory, the county's plan was to move the portable units that had been inside the park to a spot outside the construction fence, closer to the road, so beachgoers could still use them. If you're planning a long beach day at the south end of Hickory Boulevard near 26082, check for them when you arrive.
Keeping up with the reopening
Lee County posts updates on these beach projects through its Parks Project Information Tool at leegov.com/parks. That's where a change to the roughly 11-month timeline would show up first. LeeTran service details, including the ULTRA app, are at RideLeeTran.com.
Next summer, if the county's estimate holds, Bonita Beach Park and Little Hickory should reopen with rebuilt boardwalks and pavilions, a repaired restroom at Bonita Beach Park and a new restroom building at Little Hickory. Until then, the free accesses from 27720 down to 26220 Hickory Blvd. are still there to use.
Whether you're a year-round Bonita resident or just back for season, The Fowler Team keeps track of the local changes that shape everyday life here, from beach access on Hickory Boulevard to what's opening on Old 41. If you're weighing a home near the beach, or a home near the U.S. 41 shuttle stop, we're glad to talk through what each spot looks like day to day. Discover Your SWFL Home.
