Named after a close-by physique of water atop the Lake Wales Ridge, Crooked Lake Wildlife and Environmental Space serves as a sanctuary for native natural world.
A few of its inhabitants are categorised as endangered. Acquired by the state in 2008 for gopher tortoise mitigation, a part of the land was as soon as used for cattle ranching and rising oranges.
The path community consists of the multiuse Cutthroat Path, a 4.8 mile double loop, and the hiking-only Dunham Ranch Path, a brief 0.2 mile facet loop close to the doorway.
Mountain climbing at Crooked Lake WEASources
Overview
Location: FrostproofLength: 5 milesTrailhead: 27.735722, -81.621083Address: Turtle Run Path, Fort MeadeFees: FreeRestrooms: Privy on the trailheadLand supervisor: Florida Fish and Wildlife CommissionPhone: 863-648-3200
Open half-hour earlier than dawn to half-hour after sundown, leashed canines welcome.
Instructions
Hike
On the trailhead, a pair of accessible coated tables present a picnic spot subsequent to an data kiosk with paper maps.
Head in direction of a stile on the north finish of the parking space and observe the fence line, being certain to keep away from the sticky burrs of caeserweed bushes crowding the primary hundred toes.
Picnic bench on the trailheadComply with an entry highway eastward to an indication designating the routes of the Dunham Ranch and Cutthroat Grass trails.
Flip proper, following blue blazes alongside a mazy loop by means of mesic pine flatwoods, returning to this spot in 1 / 4 mile.
Dunham Ranch PathHeading northward, observe an elevated grime highway because it crosses marshy terrain dotted with pickerelweed.
The path stretches out into an previous cattle pasture earlier than turning again in direction of the forest.
Proceed straight at a fork in 0.7 miles, following a sandy path the place nature is slowly overtaking the previous agricultural discipline.
Timber rising within the previous pastureClose to the one-mile mark, the path takes a pointy flip to observe one other highway throughout a basin swamp, reaching a large swath of sandhill habitat on the opposite facet.
Common intervals of prescribed fires are being utilized on this space to take away overgrown underbrush and return it to a extra pure state.
Sandhill restorationFlip left at 1.5 miles, following a connector path for 1 / 4 mile to the far loop, staying straight on the subsequent junction because the pathway enters a dense forest of sand dwell oaks.
Blue blazes point out the best way alongside a winding transit by means of bushes earlier than main into an open sandhill neighborhood.
Stay oak labyrinthConsiderable wildflowers sprout from carpets of wispy wiregrass, producing a vibrant array of yellow and purple blooms within the fall.
In late winter, search for the showy inflorescences of lupines scattered alongside turkey oaks and noticed palmettos.
Florida paintbrushUltimately returning to the forest highway, the path takes a sweeping curve again to the start of the loop.
From this level, observe the connector again to the primary loop and switch left, coming into an expanse of mesic flatwoods.
Patches of cutthroat grass flank the two-track pathway, turning into most distinguished on the southeastern nook.
Returning to the strategy path at 4.5 miles, retrace your earlier footsteps for a half mile again to the trailhead.
Cutthroat grassPath Map
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Mountain climbing Crooked Lake WEA
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Path Map (PDF) Official Web site
