FLORIDA PLACE TO EXPLORE
Dora Canal
Lake County · Central Florida
A little over a mile of cypress-lined water joining Lake Dora to Lake Eustis, reached only by boat.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
It was a natural passage between the two lakes before it was widened, deepened and straightened in the late 1880s so that paddlewheel boats could carry freight through, a trade that lasted until the railroads arrived in the 1890s. What survived the dredging is the thing people come for: bald cypress hundreds of years old standing on both banks with their knees breaking the surface, the branches closing overhead so that the light comes down green. It has been called the most beautiful mile of waterway in the world, and whoever first said it, the description has stuck to the place for a century. Alligators, turtles, snakes, ospreys, anhingas and herons are all ordinary sightings. Several operators run pontoon tours out of Mount Dora and Tavares, usually about two hours, and that is the only practical way to see it, since no road goes near it and the banks on both sides are private or swamp
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