Lee County put up construction fencing at both ends of Bonita Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 8. At the south end, Bonita Beach Park at 27954 Hickory Blvd. closed its parking lot, restrooms, showers and pavilions so crews could repair Hurricane Ian damage. At the north end, Little Hickory Island Beach Park, also called Access #10, at 26082 Hickory Blvd., closed its lot while crews rebuild its boardwalks and pavilions and replace the restroom building the hurricane destroyed. The sand is still open. The county said in its Sept. 2 announcement that beaches stay open throughout the work and that most of these projects should take about 11 months.
A third closure is less than two weeks away. Starting Nov. 1, 2026, the lot at Bonita Beach Access #1 closes for construction too. After that, the only Lee County beach parking open along this stretch of Hickory Boulevard will be the eight small free lots in between, and every paid lot that a $60 county pass covered will be behind fencing.
The south end loses its last lot on November 1
Over the past month, Access #1 at 27890 Hickory Blvd. has been doing the work of two sites. The county named it the main pedestrian route into Bonita Beach Park once that park's lot closed, and its own lot stayed open at $2 an hour. According to Lee County's Access #1 page, it sits just north of Bonita Beach Park, with a restaurant between the two, and it has no restrooms of its own. That restaurant is Doc's Beach House at 27908 Hickory Blvd. Its website lists it as open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The county says a pedestrian path to the beach at Access #1 will stay open for the whole project once its lot closes. You can still walk onto the south end, but there will be no county parking there to start the walk from. The county pages for both Bonita Beach Park and Access #1 point beachgoers to LeeTran's ULTRA On Demand service instead.
Here is the timeline:
- Sept. 8, 2026: Lots close at Bonita Beach Park and at Little Hickory Island Beach Park/Access #10.
- Sept. 30, 2026: The city's pilot that paid residents back for the county parking pass ends.
- Nov. 1, 2026: The Access #1 lot closes. Walk-in beach access stays open.
- About 11 months from September: The county's general estimate for most of its beach-park projects. Neither Bonita site has its own reopening date.
The middle of the beach is free
Accesses #2 through #9 have no closure notices and charge nothing to park. The county's page for these eight accesses gives their addresses:
| Access | Address on Hickory Blvd. |
|---|---|
| #2 | 27720 |
| #3 | 27494 |
| #4 | 27260 |
| #5 | 27010 |
| #6 | 26786 |
| #7 | 26590 |
| #8 | 26410 |
| #9 | 26220 |
Look at the house numbers. The two fenced parks sit at each end, with Bonita Beach Park at 27954 on the island's southern tip and Little Hickory at 26082. The free accesses fill the space between them. The beach is the same beach. What changed is where you enter it.
These are plain beach accesses, and the county lists "Beach Access" as their only amenity. They have no restrooms, and pets, fires and grilling are not allowed. The page also carries a county advisory that Bonita's beaches have not been restored to pre-Ian condition, that debris keeps washing up and can be hidden under the sand, and that beach shoes should be worn at all times.
With the restrooms at Bonita Beach Park closed, the nearest public option on this stretch is at Little Hickory. The county is moving the portable restrooms from inside that park to a spot outside the construction fence near the road, so they stay usable during the work.
What the $60 county pass covers in Bonita now
Lee County's annual parks parking pass costs $60, lasts 12 months from the date it is issued, and is sold through Premium Parking. The county's annual pass page describes it as a digital pass tied to your license plate, with a separate pass needed for each vehicle. The county's parking page lists the places that honor it. Bonita's beach entries are Bonita Beach Access #1 and Little Hickory Island Beach Park/Access #10, and both are now marked "temporarily closed for construction." Bonita Beach Park was never on the list. Its page says the annual pass is not accepted there. The free Accesses #2 through #9 don't need a pass at all.
The timing explains why Bonita Springs tried to cover the cost of the pass this year. In March, District 1 Council Member Jamie Bogacz told the City Council she had permission to start talks with Lee County about a beach parking program for full-time city residents. On July 30, the city announced that the council had approved a pilot to reimburse the first 300 residents. Under the city's program sheet, residents could get $50 back on a $60 pass bought between June 1 and Sept. 30, 2026. Claims were made in person at the Bonita Springs Recreation Center at 26740 Pine Ave., and the program ended Sept. 30 or once 300 reimbursements had been paid, whichever came first. The city called it a pilot so that the city and county could review how it worked and suggest changes.
The pilot's window closed three weeks after the Access #10 lot closed. For anyone holding a pass this season, the Imperial River Boat Ramp is still on the county's list with no construction note. The list also includes county parks outside Bonita, such as Lakes Park, Manatee Park and Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. If you go to the beach more often than you launch a boat, the free middle accesses do more for you through the closures than the pass does.
Getting a ride to the closed south end
Lee County's answer for the south end is ULTRA On Demand, LeeTran's curb-to-curb ride service inside a mapped Bonita Springs zone. According to the county, ULTRA connects central Bonita Springs with Bonita Beach Park and still picks up and drops off anywhere in the zone.
- Park for free in the shopping center lot at 3300 Bonita Beach Road SW. The designated pickup spot is in the parking lot at the northwest corner of U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road.
- Book the ride in the ULTRA app by entering a destination and scheduling, or call 239-533-8726, option 7.
- Watch the clock. LeeTran's Bonita brochure lists service from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Sunday, with the last trip requests taken at 7:30 p.m.
The brochure lists the fare as $3.00. LeeTran's ULTRA page also advertises a BONITARIDE promo code that brings a single ride to $1.50. Lee County pointed beachgoers to ULTRA again in its September notice on the closures, which Gulf Coast News reported the day it came out.
Three beaches outside the fencing, each with its own trade-off
If you want restrooms, shade or a bigger lot this season, the closest choices are off Hickory Boulevard. Each has a cost or a change worth knowing before you leave.
- Barefoot Beach Preserve is a Collier County preserve open year-round from 8 a.m. to sunset. Parking is $10 per vehicle unless you have a Collier County resident beach permit. Collier's permit rules ask full-time residents for a current Collier vehicle registration and a driver's license with the same name and a Collier address, so a car registered in Lee County pays the $10. Beach rentals and sundries are available daily. Collier lists kayak and paddleboard rentals at Parking Lot 3 and food and drinks at Lot 1 as "coming soon."
- Lovers Key State Park at 8700 Estero Blvd. charges $8 per vehicle and is open 8 a.m. to sunset every day of the year. The tram is gone. Florida State Parks says it was discontinued because of long-term resilience planning. From parking lot #1, you now walk or bike about 1,000 feet over the Mid-Beach Wood Bridge, or half a mile over the South Beach Concrete Bridge. Since May 1, 2026, the park has had no gift shop, bait shop or food and drink service, though paddling, fishing equipment and beach rentals are still available daily. Bring your own lunch.
- Dog Beach, a Lee County park in Bonita Springs, lists dawn-to-dusk hours, free parking and portable restrooms, and its county page shows no closure notice. It is one of the few beach options this season that is free to park at and has restrooms.
A Lee-registered car at Barefoot pays a daily fee, a Lovers Key visit now starts with a walk, and the free accesses on Bonita Beach come with no restrooms.
Lee County says it will post progress on these projects through its Parks Project Information Tool at leegov.com/parks. Neither Bonita Beach Park nor Little Hickory has its own reopening date yet, so check there before assuming a lot has reopened.
If you have questions about Bonita Beach Road, the Hickory Boulevard accesses or how these closures affect the part of Bonita you call home, Lindsey Moffat is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
