Archbold Biological Station

Highlands County · Central Florida

A working research station on 5,192 acres of ancient scrub, holding 19 federally listed threatened species and 13 plants found nowhere else.

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Richard Archbold set up Archbold Biological Station in 1941 near Lake Placid, after the Second World War cut short his zoological work in New Guinea. It covers 5,192.63 acres of Highlands County on the Lake Wales Ridge, which was an island chain when the sea was higher and is now a strip of ancient scrub running down the middle of the peninsula. That isolation is why the plants and animals here are what they are. The station supports 19 federally listed threatened species and 13 endemic plant species, along with the sand skink, a lizard that swims through loose sand. It is a research institute first: scientists run field studies here, some of them decades long, and it is one of the places the Florida scrub-jay has been studied continuously. It also runs education programs for schools and community groups. Visitors are welcome but are asked to register at the main office first, after which there are displays to look at, a nature trail to walk and picnic areas. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 20, 2007

GETTING THERE

Get Directions ↗Official Website ↗

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