Lake June In Winter Scrub Park

Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park

A vanishing ecosystem

Welcome to Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park!

This rare ecosystem is home to plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the world. Located adjacent to the 3500-acre Lake June-in-Winter, this park is just ten minutes from Lake Placid. Here you will discover a remote, wilderness experience.

Liatris ohlingarea Scrub Blazing Star

One of the special inhabitants of the park is the gregarious Florida Scrub Jay

Natural Communities
See the stunted shrubbery and open sandy patches that characterize the “scrub” ecosystem. Several successional stages of scrub habitat can be found at this park, along with xeric, or dry hammock, seepage streams, and mesic, or moist flatwoods.

The scrub communities will remind you of a desert, with hot, sunny, dry conditions. Conservation of water is imperative for many of the plants growing here. Nutrient poor, sandy soils provide an excellent medium for the resident wildlife species’ underground burrows and curiously, the preferred growing conditions for many rare plants.

On the sloping edges of this sandy ridge are found “cutthroat seeps.” These seepage or wet areas boast globally-imperiled “cutthroat grass” and tannin-stained, spring-fed streams. In the lowest areas of the park, and along the lake shore, you will find bay trees and ferns mixed among oaks and pines. Wading birds, ducks, Osprey, and Southern Bald eagles are frequently seen during the winter season.

Please remember to hike safely by bringing a friend, drinking water, a hat, sunblock and closed-toed shoes.

A compass and cell phone are recommended for those planning longer hikes.

Another wildlife species often seen is the Gopher tortoise. The Gopher tortoise, a species of special concern, excavates long, deep burrows under the sands. The sandy well-drained soils of the park are well suited to the digging habits of the tortoise.

A variety of other creatures including the eastern diamond back rattlesnake and a species of amphibian, the gopher frog make use of these underground refuges for their survival.

Endangered species such as the Florida scrub-jay, the Florida scrub lizard, and the Florida mouse also reside here.

A Florida Scrub Jay Stands Guard As A Sentinel For The Family.

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