"Most likely nearly all of Florida's Gulf coast
once appeared like that, before modern developers diked, ditched,
drained and filled ….."
-Archeologist Jerry Milanich |
Bordered on the west by the Chassahowitzka
National Wildlife Refuge and in the midst of one of the fastest
growing regions in the nation, the 33,919-acre Chassahowitzka Wildlife
Management Area is part of a nearly unbroken crescent of protected public
lands stretching 200 miles from Pasco County to the Apalachicola River.
Here you can hunt deer and waterfowl or hike along trails through rare
sandhill and scrub communities. A driving tour will take you from upland
pinelands, through transition zones to deep within the largest and most
pristine hardwood swamp south of the Suwannee River. You might come
across a family of wild turkeys, see a gopher tortoise sunning outside
his burrow, or glimpse an elusive black bear.
Return to Southwest Region
