Just minutes from downtown Winter Garden lies Newton Park, a scenic lakefront park overlooking Lake Apopka that offers the perfect locale for Florida wildlife viewing such as alligators, turtles and a wide variety of bird species. In fact, we visit Newton Park a couple of times a week and have never been disappointed when it comes to viewing Florida wildlife in its natural habitat. Newton Park features a fishing pier, boat launch, playground and covered pavilion. Check it out!
If you want to view Florida wildlife and social distance with little effort at the same time, the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is the perfect choice! More than 360 bird species have been observed here and you are almost guaranteed to see at least a couple of alligators along the way as well. Note that the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is open only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 7 AM and 3 PM. In addition, the Wildlife Drive gets crowded during this time of year, so budget at least 1 to 3 hours for your outdoor adventure.
After hearing great things about Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, we finally got the opportunity to visit and enjoy just a small sampling of this amazing wildlife habitat. A former cattle ranch on the shore of Lake Hancock, Circle B Bar Reserve encompasses 1,267 acres and contains a diversity of great hiking trails. We saw several alligators and the reserve was also teeming with various bird species. We will definitely return soon to explore other areas of Circle B Bar Reserve. Highly recommended!
I saw this Florida alligator at the aptly named Green Springs Park in Deltona on Sunday. A bustling outdoor recreational hot spot, Green Springs Park is not the greatest locale to keep your distance from the populace. However, I do recommend stopping by when it’s less crowded just so you can take a glimpse of the incredibly beautiful springs. According to the official website, “By 1883, Green Springs was part of the large estate of wine importer and steamboat baron Frederick deBary, who used it to entertain guests from DeBary Hall. Well into the 20th century, the site still attracted tourists who were struck by what one observer called the spring’s ‘delicate green waters.'”
Wandering Florida 