As some Lee County parks and trails open, Southwest Floridians self-police

The first signs of life after sheltering is starting to take shape in what may become a new normal.

People were seen walking around Lee County parks that reopened Wednesday morning, but the reopening comes with some conditions and rules to follow.

A county employee was on hand to greet and warn parkgoers what to expect inside the parks and preserves, like no bathrooms.

But the lack of facilities didn’t keep people off the walking trails at Six-Mile Cypress Preserve.

Cheryl Vickers was out enjoying the boardwalks, “It’s fairly crowded out here this morning. It’s a little narrow in the walkways, so I turn my back and other people are conscious of things so I think it’s going pretty well.”

Over at Lehigh Acres Trailhead and Whiskey Creek Preserve, there was less foot traffic in the heat of the day.

At all three parks, rangers were on duty to make sure people kept their distance.

Most people we observed policed themselves and were following the guidelines.

“We just stay apart from people still. The virus is still out there, it’s not going anywhere soon so you want to have your distance,” said Joe Giacomello, while out for a stroll at the park.

Some people were even wearing masks, like

Vickers was even wearing a mask. “In-between I’ll take it off when I’m shooting pictures and there’s no one around but I slip it back on when I passed somebody on the path.”