PARKS & OUTDOORS
Sharon Rose Wiechens Preserve
Sumter County · Central Florida
A preserve of 625 acres off Moyer Loop, and the first nature preserve in The Villages opened to the public.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
It opened in September 2015 on land that was left wild rather than built on, north of Belle Glade Country Club and next to Atlas Canine Park, with the address listed as 3593 Vineyard Drive. A walking path leads out to a boardwalk along the water and to an observation deck of four hundred square feet built for watching the marsh. What a visitor sees changes with the season and with the rain: the water rises and falls, and the birds move with it. Rabbits, squirrels, frogs and cranes are the regulars, and the deck is high enough to look out over the grass without disturbing anything on it. The preserve is open seven days a week from seven in the morning until ten at night. Dog walking and fishing are both prohibited. The Villages recreation office at 352-674-8400 handles questions about the site. There is no fee and no gate, and although the preserve sits inside a large residential community, it is open to anyone who wants to walk it
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