By Jim W. Harper
BT Contributor

Horses are hard to come by between Homestead and Davie, but one last outpost sits inside North Miami’s largest city park. That a horse and pony stable exists within earshot of Biscayne Boulevard is so unusual, it seems almost ... defiant.

And is the park home to Snow White’s entourage as well? High-ho! You can almost hear the seven dwarfs singing as you walk across the arched wooden bridge inside the Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park. Thankfully, this park lives up to its fairy-tale name.

The park was reviewed this year by consultants from the RMPK Group, which the City of North Miami hired to create an exhaustive Park System Master Plan that was submitted in March. Unlike most city parks, this one got the stamp of approval: “No changes recommended.”

I myself have very few changes to recommend, because I appreciate the park’s natural appearance. To protect it, tear out all of the invasive potato vines flourishing throughout the park. A Cub Scout troop could accomplish this task in one afternoon.

Second, while friendly to horse lovers, the Enchanted Forest is very unfriendly to man’s best friend. This park is not bark-a-licious. Let the dogs in where the ponies tread, even if they remain excluded from the creek.

My last major recommendation is water fountains, which I couldn’t locate. Maybe someone can point them out to me.

Some may expect to see a standard athletic field in a park of this size (22 acres), but it seems unnecessary here. Instead the park offers plenty of paved trails for walking and a few grassy areas for rolling.

Located on busy 135th Street just west of Biscayne Boulevard, the park is well known for the enchantment of its mature oak trees, which create a cooling canopy of shade. (The park’s secondary name, Elaine Gordon, refers to the late feminist and state legislator from North Miami.) Look for the huge air plants nestled in the oak branches.

The verdant property is hemmed in by even more shade in the adjacent Arch Creek Park – a county park and natural hammock on the other side of the railroad tracks – and by the lovely houses of an enchanted street (137th Terrace) on its northern border.

At Christmastime each year, this street transforms into a wonderland of lights, featuring the mature oaks wrapped in tiny bulbs from head to toe. The real magic of this street lies in its oaks, which blend in with those of the park. They serve as an indictment of the surrounding neighborhoods, where large shade trees are hard to find, and heat-reflective concrete is all the rage.

Even if you can’t afford a house along the park, you can take advantage of their extended backyards. This oasis has three main sections: the eastern walking trail, accessible only by the wooden bridge crossing over Arch Creek; the central activity zone, with a community center, picnic pavilion, and horse stable; and the western walking trail and tot lot. I would like to see an entrance to each section, but only the central section opens onto 135th Street. The gates open one hour after sunrise and close one hour before sunset (about 6:30 p.m. at this time of year).

Various resident animals cluster around the quiet creek. A rancorous white goose will assail you with shouts of “Aflac!” if you get too close. Or is it a large duck? Duck, goose?
The Tropical Audubon Society lists on its website more than 100 species of birds identified within the park. Flocks of ibis are common, but you might also see the rare wood stork or the blue-gray gnatcatcher.