Although this reserve is quite remote this is a tremendous place to visit. This 54,000 acre preserve protects one of the largest remaining stretches of Florida dry prairie, home to an array of endangered plants and animals. While driving the five-mile-long road into the preserve, visitors can enjoy sweeping vistas of grasslands reminiscent of the Great Plains of the Midwest. The preserve offers excellent seasonal birding opportunities and is home to the endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, as well as the Crested Caracara and Burrowing Owl. More than 100 miles of dirt roads allow hikers, bicyclists and equestrians to explore prairies, wetlands and shady hammocks. During World War II, the United States military obtained the land to conduct training missions.
After the war, the property was returned to the crackers. Potentially dangerous unexploded ordnance still exist within the Preserve. Crackers were cattlemen that made a‘cracking’ sound with their whips drove herds to train depots or to the coasts then returned to their homesteads.
