Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West (STA-1W)

Located in central Palm Beach County, Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West (STA-1W) features a 200-foot viewing platform with gazebos overlooking the wetland. A three-mile levee trail can be used by hikers, bicyclists and photographers. Bird enthusiasts may be able to spot great blue herons, mottled ducks and black-bellied whistling ducks, along with roseate spoonbills, white pelicans and wood storks. There is a composting toilet available.

Kissimmee River Public Use Area: Starvation Slough

Located along the eastern edge of the Kissimmee River floodplain, the Starvation Slough Airboat Launch provides access to Starvation Slough and No Name Slough. If you walk far enough west into the floodplain anywhere along No Name Slough, you will see backfilled portions of the former C-38 Canal resulting from river restoration. You may ride a horse at both sloughs.

Oak Creek has many old-growth oaks, some spanning nearly five feet in diameter. Enjoy the shade while you look toward the water’s edge.

Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area

This area offers miles of hiking and bicycling trails and accessible fishing platforms within an expanse of Everglades wetlands and muhly grass prairies dotted with tropical hardwood hammocks and cypress forests. This site provides critical habitat for the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, the American crocodile and over 200 species of birds.

Hunting is managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Visit myfwc.com for hunting dates, regulations and detailed license information.

Lake Marion Creek Wildlife Management Area: Snell Creek

Snell Creek is part of the Lake Marion Creek Wildlife Management Area which also includes Torrelli South, Horse Creek, Huckleberry Island, Baker Dairy and Lake Marion.

Hilly scrub, pine flatwoods and riverine swamp forest provide habitat for a variety of Florida’s native plant and animal species at the Lake Marion Creek Wildlife Management Area.

At the Torrelli South Trailhead, you can take a quiet hike along the sugar-sand hills where you may see a rare scrub jay. At lower elevations you will find shady, fern-carpeted tree hammocks.

Shingle Creek

Located in southwest Orange and northwest Osceola counties, Shingle Creek is a great place to bike, hike, fish, kayak, canoe and view wildlife.

Shingle Creek is the major water source for Lake Tohopekaliga, which is part of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and forms the headwaters of the Everglades. Because of the land’s significance to the Everglades, Shingle Creek is a featured site along the Everglades Trail.

For more information, please call the District Recreation Hotline at 866-433-6312 or email recreation@sfwmd.gov.

Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Wildlife Management Area: Rough Island

Located in the Reedy Creek watershed, this area features picturesque views amid a mosaic of floodplain swamp, wet prairie, mesic flatwoods and scrub. You can enjoy this biologically diverse treasure by boat, starting from the closest boat launch at Cypress Lake.

Take a break at the “Cowboy Camp” established in the 1920s on Rough Island South, enjoy shady oaks and a large hammock on the south end of Rough Island North, or spend some time at the picnic area at the south end of Johnson Island. Hiking is best during the dry season.

Kissimmee River Public Use Area: MICCO Landing

Take in the beauty of picturesque flowering marsh plants. Pink marsh mallow “hibiscus,” purple pickerel weed, yellow primrose, creamy water hemlock and button-bush flowers are on display. The property also features a boat ramp, surrounded by grandfather oaks, a cypress dome and cabbage palms.

At Cornwell Marsh, split by the Kissimmee River, you will find canoe and kayak access at the 4E’s non-motorized boat ramp and airboat launch off US 98.

Loxahatchee River/Cypress Creek Management Area

South Florida’s first federally designated Wild and Scenic River, the seven-mile Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee, begins its journey at Palm Beach County’s Riverbend Park. You can rent a canoe or kayak at the park and explore the serene, cypress-soaked waters of the tannin-stained river. The river meanders north through the District’s Loxahatchee River/Cypress Creek Management Area and then on to Jonathan Dickinson State Park.