three lakes wildlife management area

Very primitive lots of wildlife. Enjoyed the unpaved roads. Also really liked the observation tower.

I love Three Lakes! It is absolutely beautiful! Lots of wildlife- birds (INCLUDING EAGLES), alligators, and deer! Its a great place to bring your family, go on a date, or even hike alone.

I visited on November 18, late in the season for wildlflowers, on a day with poor lighting for photography. One of the better ways to get an idea of its layout is to use Google maps or a similar service with a smart phone. The unpaved roads are mostly stabilized with limestone, and are kept groomed, so they're safe for ordinary cars, like mine. From them, you can walk several trails, including part of the Florida Trail or enjoy the scenery from the roads. That scenery tends toward flatwoods, grassland with saw palmetto in the grass layer and pines, mostly longleaf with some planted slash pines and a few patches of pond pine near its southern range limit. Wetter areas have cypress, usually taller toward the middle of each area, so that circular cypress ponds are dome-shaped. A substantial portion of Three Lakes is dry prairie, at least dry by Florida standards. These areas are burned frequently to ensure that the vegetation remains low. Endangered Florida grasshopper sparrows live here, but you are unlikely to see them. There will be some impressive flower shows in spring and summer. Elsewhere, there's lake access, modest live oak forests, and, if you look carefully, some conspicuous areas that had been "improved pasture" with bahia grass and other non-native grasses. They've been restored to native grasses, sometimes very thickly. Considering that restoring wiregrass and lopsided indian grass was difficult and expensive (or impossible) twenty or thirty years ago, it's a remarkable accomplishment. Three Lakes' excellent fire management means the landscape looks reasonably as it did in the past, notwithstanding the effects of cutting cypress and pines during the era when a branch railroad line ran through Kenansville. More pines were lost during the two hurricanes of 2004. In the past, there were also efforts to plant slash pines for pulpwood, which didn't work well. The remaining planted pines are gradually being removed. It's fairly easy to tell the longleaf pines by their big cones. One of Three Lakes' management objectives is to support red-cockaded woodpeckers, which were abundant when the coastal South had vast longleaf pinelands with huge numbers of old trees suitable for building nest cavities. The area does not have the big old longleafs that can be still be seen in a very few places. Cattle are grazed in parts of the Wildlife Management Area, just as they are in Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park to the south. There are hunting seasons for deer and other game animals, including turkeys, so it can be a good idea to check the website before visiting. Three Lakes is accessible via County Road 523 (Canoe Creek Road) from St. Cloud or Kenansville, or US 441 at Williams Road, north of Kenansville.

I discovered this area while taking an airboat ride on Lake Jackson. I liked the various aspects of land area and it's history. Three lakes are contained here-Lake Jackson, Lake Marian, and Lake Kissimmee. It also contains one of the largest dry prairies remaining in the US. This area preserves this prairie. The roads in the area are both paved and gravel, pretty decent gravel roads at that. This vast wilderness area is less than a hour from Disney World!A variety of activities are available: hiking, biking, birding, fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing, and horseback riding. There are wildlife viewing platforms (several steps). A couple of rustic restrooms, and some picnic tables. There is a public boat ramp on Lake Jackson. $8 for entry. You put your money in a metal pole type canister at the entrance to the park. You get a sticker to lay on your inside dash, and rangers do check for them. There are deer, wild hogs, turkey, all sorts of birds, snakes, and armadillos here, to name a few animals. Bass fishing is very popular. Highly recommend in cooler months!

There are several important wildlife projects here, aimed at sustaining wildlife facing endangerment. People with unique talents and patience working 7 days a week hoping to discover solutions.

We go here several times a year! Its just a short drive from our house to a great hiking spot! I also do wildlife photography here. There are a lot of animals roaming around. Although if you go in the spring be mindful of the gators! There is a big momma with her babies out there currently which she is very possessive of!

Feb. 2014- we visited. The address is: 1231 Prairie Lakes Rd, Kenansville, FL 34739. ( This address is hard to find) We drove many miles and saw hardly no birds. This is a large area of almost 60,000 acres. There was a self pay box for $3.00 per person. On the way we went down Joe Overstreet Road. This road dead ends at Lake Kissimmee. At the dead end is a small camp ground, Airboat tour, and a dock for putting small boats in. We saw more birds at this dock area then in the entire Wild life Management area. We even drove down to the Lake Jackson docking area in the Wildlife Management area, and there were very few birds. The roads are improved with hard packed sand. Pack a lunch, and lots of water or grab food in St. Cloud if you are coming from the North. There is an occasional outdoor bathroom facility, but be prepared with your own preparations. We always have a roll of toilet paper in the trunk.

Awesome place, go early and see the deer and hogs everywhere. Lots of Southern Bald Eagles all around the lakes and cow pastures. Watch for the trees with white paint rings for woodpeckers. At first, light we seen allot of Coyotes on Prairie lakes road.

We visited the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area on our trip to Orlando area, as we wanted to fit in some birding alongside the family fun. We had been to Florida before in Spring, a much better time for birds and weather. June is hot and most birds have departed to breed elsewhere, but we stil enjoyed seeing what Three Lakes had to offer. Three Lakes is about 1 hour from Kissimmee. Once you finally leave the urban sprawl, you get into pleasant open countryside. We stopped off en route at Joe Overstreet Landing which gave some nice views of Wild Turkey along the road and American Purple Gallinule at the landing itself. Once at Three Lakes, we paid our fees at the unmanned station (where there are also restrooms) and then explored the network of dirt roads by car (it was way too hot to walk far).Highlight of the trip was Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (a great place to see them here, they are very localised in Florida). In the heat and at this time of year, the birds weren't exactly jumping from every tree (unlike in March!), but other highlights for us were the lovely Eastern Bluebird, posing Northern Bobwhite, a family of Great Crested Flycatcher. a smart Pine Warbler and dinky Northern Parula.There is a nice mixture of different pine, palmetto and grassland habitat - we also enjoyed seeing our first Raccoon of the trip. Worth a visit for a break from the frantic activity of Orlando - if you like birding that is !