Today’s visitors know Snook Haven as a funky outpost along the Myakka River, where you can order old-Florida fare, dance to a bluegrass band or rent a canoe or kayak. But those enormous old oaks have shaded a colorful collection of rogues and adventurers since bootleggers used it as a hideout in the 1920s. Remote and wild, it’s served as a fish camp, film site and more. A new exhibit at the Venice Museum & Archives retraces its history.

In 2006, Sarasota County acquired the property as a public park.

Prestige, a 1931 film about a French prison camp in the jungle, was shot here.

As many as 1,000 people attend the Gulf Coast Banjo Society’s shows (October-May, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.)

A cabin for visitors was built in 1936 and four more cabins were added in the ‘50s.

Paddle down the river yourself or take the one-hour boat tour.