Established to protect wildlife habitats along the southern tip of the Lake Wales Ridge, Platt Branch Wildlife and Environmental Area is a 1,972 acre mosaic of old-growth longleaf pine forests favored by red-cockaded woodpeckers, broad open prairies, scrub plants on ancient sands, rare cutthroat grass seeps, and cypress forests along the edge of Fisheating Creek.

Open only for passive use (no bicycles or horses permitted), this environmental area has a 3.5-mile blazed trail with an observation deck over a wet prairie, and many miles of forest roads available for exploration, including ones that reach the wall of cypress protecting Fisheating Creek. 

Bring your binoculars to catch a streak of blue across the sky as the Florida scrub-jays move from tree to tree. Gopher tortoises and the rare Florida mouse, which shares tortoise burrows in ancient sands, are among the wildlife you’ll see on a wander through Platt Branch.

For more information, visit the Platt Branch WEA website