Trout Lake Nature Center

ABOUT THIS PLACE

The Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society founded it in 1988 as a private preserve run for public education, and that is still what it is. About 1.4 miles of trail thread through it under names that tell you what you are walking through: the Lazy Oak Trail, the Bobcat Boardwalk, the Haselton, Armadillo and Little Armadillo trails, the Adventure Trail, the Grandfather Oak Trail and the Gunkel Trail. Narrow catwalks and a swinging bridge cross the cypress creeks, and a long boardwalk runs out into the lake to open water with a covered pavilion at the end of it. The habitats stack up close together: ancient oak hammock, floodplain forest, cypress strand, pine flatwoods and the marshy fringe of the lake. Cormorants roost in the cypress through the winter. Charles Newell Hall holds animal exhibits and the education center has displays and a library. Open Tuesday to Saturday nine until four and Sunday one until four, five dollars a vehicle