Friday, April 10, 2026

Login / Signup

River Wilderness

River Wilderness Homes for Sale – Parrish, Florida 34219

River Wilderness is a golf community in Parrish, north Manatee County. Its expansive acreage sprawls on the southwest quadrant of Old Tampa Road and Fort Hamer Road. The Manatee River and the Fort Hamer Bridge, a new span linking Parrish with east Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, and Sarasota, is less than a mile south of River Wilderness.

Definitely upscale, River Wilderness is a gated community with its entrance/exit on Old Tampa Road set amidst an impressive landscaping. Lush tropical greeneries plus a pair of lakes with fountain accents deliver a strong first impression to aspiring buyers of Parrish homes for sale visiting this community.

The overall development theme for River Wilderness, as its name suggests, is that of an unspoiled natural setting. Hence, the residences of this community, as well as its host golf course, are set far back from the main road entrance.

Masterful Transformation

River Wilderness’s acreage was formerly ranch and farm lands. A millionaire from Naples, Lloyd Sheehan, started buying the land parcels for the development of this community in the 1970s. Sheehan eventually acquired for River Wilderness 1,400 acres of land laid out south of Old Tampa Road stretching up to the banks of the Manatee River.

The first homes in River Wilderness were built in the early 1980s upon the completion of the golf course in 1984. However, Sheehan was unable to complete the community’s development, because of financial and legal problems and a recession in the early 1990s. Other developers nonetheless pursued completion of the entire project for the River Wilderness Golf & Country Club.

The country club’s golf links is an 18-hole, par 72 championship course. A design of the well-respected course architect Ted McAnlis, this layout features seven sets of tees with the longest play at 6,934 yards. It has a slope rating of 133 and a course rating of 73.3. The club’s golf practice facilities, besides a driving range, also include a chipping green and a separate practice area for sand shots.

Tempting Club Perks

Country club membership is not mandatory for River Wilderness residents. Conversely, club members need not be residents of the community. Opting for a club membership though could be quite tempting to prospective buyers of River Wilderness homes for sale, given the amenities it is bundled with.

Aside from golfing privileges, the country club members enjoy access to a junior-size Olympic swimming pool and four tennis courts. It also provides members a 3,800-square-foot Athletic Center offering lessons and programs for fitness, swimming, and tennis. Outside of the club, River Wilderness has a community park and boat ramp with boat storage space available for a fee. The board of directors of the country club and the River Wilderness homeowners association are separate but work closely together.

Wide-ranging Home Choices

There are some 800 homes in River Wilderness, with most of the residences backed up to the golf links’ greens and fairways. The other dwellings are clustered close to the property’s luxuriant greenbelts and nature preserves.

Prospective buyers whose budgets track the upper $200s can often find some market opportunities in River Wilderness. Typically, these would be residences built in the early 2000s, featuring two to three bedrooms with floor areas of between 2,000 and 2,200 square feet. Larger residences of more recent vintage with floor plans of about 3,000 square feet are the community’s prime choices, geared for home shoppers eying the luxury million-dollar range.