The preserve is open to the public 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and the entrance fee is $3 ( paid into an “honesty box” when we visited in the summer), and there is a lot of information available about the 12,000 acre sanctuary, as well as a trail guide leaflet.

The preserve was established in 1992, to restore the land to its original wetland state. It was previously managed for cattle and many of the original species had been lost through cattle grazing, ditching, and logging. The drained wetlands have now been repaired, and the area is now host to more than 300 wildlife species including bald eagles, Florida scrub-jays, sand hill cranes, Sherman’s fox squirrels, eastern indigo snakes, and gopher tortoises. More than 50 different butterfly species have also been spotted here.

The wilderness trail is 2.45 miles long, but you can do a small loop (1.02 miles) or a large loop (2.15 miles). In the middle of summer, the small loop was all we could manage in the heat, but there is a lot to see in the way of wild plant and birdlife.

It is recommended that you carry drinking water, wear a hat and sunscreen, and certainly avoid all contact with poisonous plants and wild animals!

There is a picnic area which overlooks Lake Russell, a shallow undeveloped lake with a wonderful view of Cypress trees and wetlands. Apparently, if you were to take a Kayak north from the lake, up through Reedy Creek, you would end up in Disney World!

We were rather impressed that the Disney Corporation should co-operate with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, the Nature Conservancy and several other public bodies to fund this project - especially as it was not advertised anywhere. We discovered subsequently that the setting up of the conservancy was to offset the wetlands lost as a result of the building of Walt Disney World just up the road, and was part of the conditions set out to allow WDW to be built. Presumably the Aviation authority was part of the co-operation for the same reason. Whatever the reasons, be they altruistic or business-based, it is good to know that the Florida authorities do ensure that natural wetlands, destroyed for building projects, are restored elsewhere.