Lake Louisa State Park (4) - Orlando / Florida Guide

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Some of our favourite places to visit in Florida are the State parks. Not only are they cheap to visit, but they offer some of the most beautiful and calm surroundings you are likely to come across. Lake Louisa, west of the Disney area, and off of Highway 27 is no exception. It comprises of 4, 500 acres encompassing six lakes, two streams and over 100 acres of lake shore line. The park in addition to its campsites and cabins, has plenty of picnic areas along Lake Louisa for a relaxing meal alongside nature. Hikers and bikers can enjoy over 23 miles of trails through cypress trees and eye catching wild flowers. There are also 16 miles of trail available for horseback riding. At any time it may be possible to see Deer, Quail, Gopher, Tortoise, Turkey and many species of birds.

The park consists of 11 distinct habitats including sand hills, scrubland, mixed forest, swamp land, marsh land, wet flat woods, hydric hammock, blackwater stream and citrus grove.

Lake Louisa’s history spans many centuries with native Americans occupying land surrounding the lake. In 1823 a treaty, named the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, designated this entire area as part of the Seminole Reservation. In 1910, a couple, John and Louise Driggors Hammond ‘settled’ most of the land through the creation of a homestead. It included a family home, sawmill, shingle mill, a church, a school and various workers accommodation. In 1943 the Bronson family acquired some of the property growing oranges and farming cattle. There are remnants of this land still visible today. In 1973 the land was purchased by the state and became a state park in 1974. 3 years later it opened to the public. Even recently, in 2001, when a drought caused the level of the Lake to drop significantly, two prehistoric dugout canoes were discovered, dating the history of the area in terms of thousands of years rather than hundreds. Later in the same year remnants of a crashed Mustang aircraft was found which had gone missing on 14 November 1944 after a training flight.

If you would like to visit Lake Louisa it is open from 8am until sunset everyday of the year. Fishing is available both from boat or from one of the fishing piers. Admission is only $4. 00 for a vehicle with up to 8 occupants, a bargain! The park is located on US 27, seven (7) miles south of State Road 50.

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Page added on: 14 July 2008
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