In honor of Earth Day, we are excited to share a wonderful, hidden gem that we discovered near our home. It’s called the Oakland Nature Preserve, and we love to spend time there. In fact, it’s the first place we visited when we moved here, and we’ve been back many times since then. We like to go each season and see how the trees and plants have changed! It’s always an adventure because we see different types of wildlife every time we visit! Let’s go on a tour of the best nature preserve in central Florida!
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General Information
Address
The preserve is located just 30 minutes west of Orlando in the quaint town of Oakland. It sits on the south end of Lake Apopka.
Machete Trail Oakland, FL 34760 407-905-0054
When can you visit
The trails are open 365 days a year, from sunrise to sunset. The museum is normally open Monday-Friday 9 am-4 pm. No dogs or bicycles are permitted.
What does it cost
Admission is free but donations are welcomed!
What can you do there
Visit the museum
Before you hit the trails, check out the museum and education center. Be sure to pick up a trail map on the porch of the education center or download the mobile trail map here.
If someone in your party needs to rest, or just wants to take in the quiet of nature, there is a nice porch with rocking chairs where they can sit.
At the opposite end of the porch there are tanks that contain fish and turtles.
Restrooms and water fountains are also available. Just joking, you don’t have to use the outhouse!
They have nice restroom facilities and water fountains to refill water bottles.
HikE
The preserve has 128 acres and offers eight walking trails. The trail shown above leads to a bird watching area.
The most popular trail is The Healthy West Orange Boardwalk. It’s a 2/3 mile boardwalk that leads to Lake Apopka. The trail was recently refurbished with composite planks and new wood railings.
The trail is wheelchair accessible and has areas to sit and rest along the way.
It ends at a large covered pavilion overlooking the lake. There are benches and a few rocking chairs to sit and relax in to watch the wildlife.
View plants, flowers and trees
You’ll travel through mostly shaded wetlands with interpretive signs identifying trees and plants.
The moss on the trees is so interesting to look at!
View wildlife
The best part of the trail is viewing wildlife. Highlights include birds, small alligators and turtles.
Pileated Woodpecker
Did you notice what this Osprey is carrying? It’s so fun watching the birds “fish”!
This Black Vulture was up close and personal.
Lizards abound on the trail. All different kinds and colors!
An occasional friendly green snake might appear.
Small alligators can usually be spotted as you near the lake.
One day we could see several large alligators out on the lake. We have not seen a large one up close yet!
A turtle swimming in the lake.
It’s so relaxing to sit on the pavilion and listen to the sounds of the birds and frogs!
We spotted this cute little guy looking for food!
I hope you enjoyed our tour of the best nature preserve in central Florida! Where do you like to go to spend time in nature? Let me know in the comments!
Blessings, Rich and Donna
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support. (disclosure policy)
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