Drive highlights natural habitat, Lake Apopka’s restoration
By Teresa Sargeant
Reporter
Supporters of the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive will celebrate the popular eco-tourism attraction’s 10th anniversary with an event next month.
St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) will host an event 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 4 at the drive, which will be open during its regular hours from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Two tables will be set up, one hosted by SJRWMD staff, and the other hosted by the Orange Audubon Society.
“If people want to pull off on the side, get out and ask an expert birder a question, or ask district staff questions, we’ll be there,” Danielle FitzPatrick, SJRWMD regional media and communications coordinator, said. “We’ll have some giveaways and things like that, and we’ll have other educational, and then the other table will be more education focused, talking about the restoration of the lake and things like that.”
To FitzPatrick, the Wildlife Drive, which first opened on May 1, 2015, was a byproduct of the Lake Apopka restoration efforts because the lake and its North Shore’s restoration has helped bring in more wildlife, including over 300 species of birds.
“Now families, residents, whoever can come and experience that from their car,” she said. “You can walk it, of course, but it’s great that it has that you’re able to do it from your vehicle. So, it’s friendly to all types of people.”
The Orange Audubon Society has been a longtime partner of SJRWMD for the Wildlife Drive.
“They are great partners,” FitzPatrick said. “They have an ambassador program, and they staff with volunteers the entryway of the Wildlife Drive on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So, when people first enter the drive, they are able to speak to someone from the Audubon and get a map and things like that.”
FitzPatrick said visitors have consistently given good feedback about the drive since it opened.
“It’s been very positive,” she said. “People love to drive. I hear from people all over that when they have family in town, they love to bring them on the Wildlife Drive. It’s one of the few things that’s free, and every time you go, you can see something different. So, it’s been very positive.”
The Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is a one-way, 11-mile drive that curves through the eastern section of Lake Apopka North Shore starting at Lust Road in Apopka and ending on Jones Avenue in Orange County.
Depending on usage and the number of stops visitors make on the roadway, the drive could last one to three hours.
Pollutants that ran off from now-defunct North Shore muck farms contaminated Lake Apopka, the state’s fourth largest lake. The Surface Water Improvement and Management Act of 1987 targeted Lake Apopka for cleanup.
The Florida Legislature passed a bill in 1996 to give funds to purchase more agricultural lands north of Lake Apopka.
The SJRWMD’s significant restoration efforts include establishing a marsh flow-way system, which cycles Lake Apopka’s water through restored wetlands to clean the lake.
In conjunction with the city of Apopka, the Orange Audubon Society is developing a 70-acre nature and birding park at the Wildlife Drive’s Lust Road entrance with anticipation that construction will begin this year.
Little Diversified Architectural Consulting has designed the birding park’s $1.5 million, 2,400 square-foot energy-efficient education center, which will be widened to 3,400 square feet.
The Wildlife Drive is open to automotive traffic between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays. All vehicles must leave the drive by 5 p.m.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
Follow The Apopka Chief on Facebook.
Follow The Apopka Chief on X.
Follow The Apopka Chief on Instagram.
