WATER & COAST
Taylor Creek Stormwater Treatment Area
Okeechobee County · Central Florida
A hundred and ninety acres of constructed marsh on the west side of US 441, four and a fifth miles north of the State Road 70 junction.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
It is a piece of water engineering that happens to be one of the better birding spots in the county. Water running off the cattle ranches north of the lake carries phosphorus, and phosphorus is what feeds the algal blooms; these man-made marshes slow the water down and let the plants take the phosphorus out before it reaches Lake Okeechobee. The result is shallow ponds and levees that wading birds treat as an ordinary marsh. Herons, egrets, wood storks and roseate spoonbills are regular, along with osprey, cormorants, kingfishers and red-winged blackbirds. Alligators are plentiful and two otter families live in the canals. The inner loop is two and two-tenths miles and the full loop three, on limerock, open to bicycles. There is a vault toilet at the trailhead and two chickee shelters for shade. No permit is needed and there is no charge, but no pets are allowed, and the district closes it for maintenance from time to time
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