Lake Woodruff Wilderness

The Native Americans who once lived here harvested the rich food supply and left behind mounds, middens and artifacts dating back 10,000 years. The native population began to dwindle after the Spanish explorers arrived in the early 1500s. In 1823 Major Joseph Woodruff acquired the DeLeon Springs area, the infamous Fountain of Youth, and gave his name to the nearby lake. In 1964, the same year the Wilderness Act was passed, the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge was set aside as migratory bird habitat, and it was designated Wilderness in 1976. You'll find very little evidence of human domination in this country of freshwater marshes, lakes and streams, just plenty of wildlife. Species counted here include at least 200 birds, 42 mammals, 58 reptiles, 33 amphibians and 68 fish. Ducks account for more than half of the migratory birds. Ospreys likewise abound, and no other refuge echoes more often with the weird cries of the limpkin. Black bears, armadillos, otters and unusually long alligators are commonly sighted, and in May and June manatees move into the refuge and nearby Blue Springs. The Wilderness was established along the western refuge boundary between Honey Creek and the Saint Johns River, with the Alexander Springs Wilderness just across the river; about one-fourth of the refuge is timbered swamps. The bulk of visitors come to walk along the several levees bisecting the managed wetland impoundments and view birds, alligators, otters and other wildlife, or to fish for bass, bream and crappie. A large portion of the Wilderness is accessible only by boat. With neither road nor trail, it receives few human visitors aside from those who boat along the borders.