Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park

Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Location	Lake and Seminole counties, Florida, United States
Nearest city	Sanford, Florida
Coordinates	28°52′01″N 81°22′05″W / 28.86694°N 81.36806°W / 28.86694; -81.36806Coordinates: 28°52′01″N 81°22′05″W / 28.86694°N 81.36806°W / 28.86694; -81.36806
Area	18,000 acres (7,300 ha)
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park is an 18,000-acre (7,300 ha) Florida State Park located on six miles (10 km) of the St. Johns River in Lake and Seminole counties. The park forms a wildlife corridor to the Ocala National Forest along the Wekiva and St. Johns Rivers.

A great blue heron takes flight from the Lower Wekiva River. 5/13/14

Fauna

Among the wildlife of the park are black bears, river otters, alligators, wood storks, and sandhill cranes.

The park

There are two sections to the park, north and south. The northern section's entrance is in Pine Lakes, off S.R. 44. This entrance leads to the multiuse trails, primitive horse camping and backpack camping areas. The entrance to the southern section, off S.R. 46 nine miles (14 km) west of Sanford, provides access to 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of the park. There is no horseback riding in this part of the park.

Neither section provides water access. Although canoeists can travel the Wekiva River through the park, they must launch from outside.

Recreational activities

Activities include equestrian camping, biking, canoeing, hiking, and wildlife viewing. Amenities include horse stalls and corrals and 18 miles (29 km) of multiuse trails.

Hours

Florida state parks are open between 8 a.m. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).

Gallery

Park sign on SR 46
Path into the park, off SR 46

References and external links

Protected areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Three Rivers Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation Areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and Reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State Trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Other

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Florida

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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