When you make the turn from Highway 27 into Lake Louisa State Park, you may feel the weight of the city lifting from your shoulders. Within the Green Swamp Area of Critical Concern and along the northern boundary of the Lake Wales ridge, here you have access to nearly unlimited adventure! 20 miles of trails, a system of 10 lakes, and 4500 acres of rolling hills are home to eleven natural plant communities.
This diversity of habitat enables a wide variety of wildlife. You may see deer, bobcat, gopher tortoises, fox squirrels and many birds. On a recent visit hosted by the Lake Beautyberry Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, we saw many gopher tortoise burrows, tons of birds, and two brown watersnakes, one of which was getting ready to molt. What an adventure, right here in Lake County!
Something for everyone
You often hear that one park or another “has something for everyone.” When you hear it said about this State Park, you can rest assured that it’s true. With so many trails, there’s one for every skill level, and equestrians are welcome on most. Are you a camper? Here, you’ll find everything from cabins with fully equipped cabins to primitive camping (primitive equestrian camping, too). Several of the ten lakes in this park provide opportunities to wet your paddle, whether you prefer to canoe, kayak, or stand-up paddleboard. Native plant enthusiasts will have plenty to see – the restoration areas are full of interesting stories. Naturalists of every stripe will find it hard to pick a favorite spot, there is just SO MUCH here. It’s the perfect place for families, and your leashed dogs are welcome on the trails.
Restoration
In an area just above Lake Louisa, we visited an area being restored to sandhill from flatwoods. In addition to the restoration, it is a site for plant rescue placements. The sand of the sandhill, so white that it can be blinding in the midday sun, comprises quartz crystals that have eroded from the Appalachian Mountains. As a Maryland girl, I was happy to hear the Appalachians get credit for being an ancient mountain range that was once as high as the Himalayas. At any rate, these quartz crystals washed down into the Gulf of Mexico long ago and then were pushed by waves onto the Lake Wales Ridge when the Ridge was an archipelago, much as the Florida Keys are today.
We were fortunate to see some Scrub Morning Glory (Bonamia grandiflora) which has been grown from seed and placed in several areas to increase its range within the park. This plant is long-lived, and the little pieces we saw will eventually produce large tubers and spread from both that tuber and from seeds dropped in the soil. The tuberous root protects this plant from the fires that keep a scrub area healthy. From the 100 seeds that were planted, 12 grew and 11 have survived. The population at Lake Louisa is spreading, but the largest remaining population of this plant is found in the Ocala National Forest.
More Restoration
n another restoration area, we saw narrowleaf dawn flower (Stylisma angustifolia), noseburn (Tragia betonicifolia ?), snoutbean (Rhyncosia?) , narrowleaf gayflower (Liatris angustifolia), indian plantain (Arnoglossum floridanum), and so many more that I couldn’t catch the names of. Lake Louisa is a great spot for native plant enthusiasts! If you find yourself walking in an area marked with small flags, tread with care: you are in an area of plants that are being propagated or rescued. If they have metal tags, please step away: metal tags denote endangered plants that need great care.
My favorite thing was a large stand of blooming butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). We were able to observe this plant from pre-bloom to immature fruit. This is a native milkweed and I need to get some in my yard! It is such a beautiful plant!
I do not know how we got so lucky, but even on this hot and dry afternoon, we were not bothered by deerflies or mosquitoes during any part of our day. This noticeable lack of insect activity made our afternoon even more pleasant. Will you be as fortunate when you visit?