White egrets tiptoe through brown cypress swamps, and gopher tortoises meander across the roadway towards pine flatwoods, all undisturbed by early-bird visitors. Hikers tread across marsh boardwalks and into an ancient hydric hammock where rare Florida panthers, scrub-jays, and pine snakes hide amongst a canopy of air plants and sabal palms.

With the mystique of the Everglades , the tranquility of Biscayne Bay, and the ambient isolation of Dry Tortugas , Highlands Hammock State Park was a strong but ultimately unsuccessful contender for national park designation.

“Being on the Lake Wales Ridge, it’s an endemically rich part of Florida with extremely rare species,” says Dr. Hilary Swain, emerita executive director of nearby Archbold Biological Station . “Highlands Hammo

See Full Page