Picayune Strand State Forest is located in southwest Florida in western Collier County, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the city of Naples.

The forest can be accessed via Everglades Boulevard from the north, Jane's Scenic Drive from the east, and Sabal Palm Road from the west.

Few homes were built in the subdivision named "Golden Gate Estates" created by the Gulf American Land Corporation[3] due to the lack of electricity and high summer water levels.

By the 1970s, it was obvious that the extensive canal system was having an adverse effect on the natural communities of Picayune Strand and associated ecosystems, including Faka Union Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands area.

Soon after, state and federal agencies identified the need to restore the hydrology of Picayune Strand and began to develop a plan to achieve this goal.

The canal system established in the 1970s altered the hydrology of the Strand and surrounding areas by draining the wetlands and increasing freshwater point source discharges into the estuaries.

The forest is composed of cypress swamps, pine flatwoods and wet prairies in the lowlands and subtropical hardwood hammock in the uplands.

The following is only a partial list of the species that can be found in the Forest: cougar, red-cockaded woodpecker, black bear, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, bald eagle, wood stork, Big Cypress fox squirrel, and swallow-tailed kite.