WATER & COAST
Colt Creek State Park
Polk County · Central Florida
Just over 5,000 acres of the Green Swamp sixteen miles north of Lakeland, a cattle ranch until the state bought it and opened it in 2007.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
The Overstreet family ran this as the Mac Cattle Ranch, raising beef cattle, growing timber, hunting it and mining limestone on it. The state bought the land and opened it to the public on January 20, 2007, as Florida's 160th state park. It covers 5,067 acres inside the Green Swamp Wilderness Area, which matters more than it sounds: water leaving this ground finds its way into four of Florida's major rivers, the Withlacoochee, the Hillsborough, the Peace and the Ocklawaha, and the swamp is a principal recharge area for the Floridan Aquifer. Over fifteen miles of multi-use trail carry hikers, cyclists and horses through cypress domes, mesic flatwoods and floodplain forest. Three lakes hold fish and take canoes and kayaks. There is a 34-site full-facility campground, a 20-site equestrian campground, primitive sites and a group site. About 150 bird species have been recorded, and gopher tortoises, black bears and fox squirrels live here
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