The shortest run to the Causeway the city publishes.

What you can launch here

Short answer: anything you can tow. This is a ramp on open water, not a canal lot, and that changes the question completely.

Nothing is over you. Horton Park sits at the mouth of Everest Canal. Everest carries a single crossing, SE 24th Street at 8.3 ft, and it is upstream of the ramp: it is between the ramp and the houses, not between the ramp and the river.

Air draft decides things at an address, not at a ramp. If the boat lives on your own dock, every fixed crossing between your canal and the river is in play, and the lowest of them is your ceiling for as long as you own the house. They start at 5.5 ft. We publish the clearance for all 157 canal crossings we map, filterable by your air draft, and the canal map settles it for one specific address.

Getting out

The city puts Horton Park at approximately 10.9 statute miles from the Sanibel Causeway Bridge. That is three tenths of a mile closer than Rosen Park, which is the only ramp-to-ramp comparison the city gives you and, honestly, not a difference that should decide anything.

The real difference between the two is size. Rosen has 57 trailer spaces, a 19-slip marina, showers and a pump-out. Horton has 31 trailer spaces and flush restrooms. If you are towing on a busy Saturday that gap matters more than a third of a mile of river.

What it means if you are buying nearby

A public ramp inside the neighbourhood changes what a house is worth to a boat owner, and it changes it in both directions.

In your favour: you can own a boat here without owning a dock or a lift to keep it on. That is a large amount of money not spent, and it opens up the dry lots a few streets back from the water (which are cheaper than the canal-front houses and, for a trailer boater, no less useful).

Against: ramp traffic is real. Trailers, early mornings, and a weekend queue are part of the address. Some buyers want to be two streets away from that rather than on the approach road, and it is worth driving the route on a Saturday before you decide which you are.

The thing we would check either way is the water itself. Gulf access in Cape Coral is not one thing: some canals reach open water with nothing over them, others are bridged and cap your air draft for good. That is settled per address on the canal map, not in the listing copy, and never by the phrase “Gulf access” on its own. Our guide to freshwater versus Gulf access covers why the distinction costs people money.

If you don't already own a dock, ask what adding one would take, including the seawall it and a lift would need. Our seawalls, docks and lifts guide covers permits, likely cost and who is responsible for repairs.

The other three city ramps

Horton Park Boat Ramp is one of four public ramps the city runs. Here is how the other three compare; the full table with all four side by side is on the boat ramps page.

Paying, permits and the practical bits

Trailer parking is what the $15 pays for, through the Passport app, Passport’s mobile site, or by phone on (239) 424-9459. You can also buy in person at the Parks & Recreation counter in City Hall.

The annual and two-year decals are Cape Coral residents and Cape Coral-based businesses only. If you are buying here and plan to launch regularly, that decal is one of the small practical arguments for a Cape Coral address over an address just outside the city line.

The city has closed this ramp before for work on the Caloosahatchee Connect pipeline, which runs reclaimed water under the river. Those closures were short, a few days at a time, and none is in force that we can see. Check the city’s news page before you tow if you are making a special trip.