Lake George State Forest
Lake George State Forest,
Located in Volusia County
Lake George State Forest is located in northwestern Volusia County near the towns of Barberville and Astor.
History of Lake George State Forest
The Bluffton Mound and Midden at the Bluffton Recreation Area illustrate the rich archaeological history of the St. Johns River and Lake George area. For thousands of years early Florida Indians inhabited the area.Explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries first noticed the large mounds of freshwater shellfish that were created by the Indians. Later, the shell mounds attracted some of Florida’s earliest archaeologists. Today, little of the mounds exist as most were excavated for material to build roads. Past uses of Lake George State Forest include timber management, naval stores production, grazing and hunting. Prior to 1910, logging canals were dug through the swamps to remove cypress logs. In the 1930′s much of the area was forested in longleaf pine and slash pine and used for cattle grazing. Starting in the 1960′s, slash pine was planted as previous owners had aggressively harvested the forest.
Natural Features
Lake George State Forest is one of several publicly-owned tracts of land encircling Lake George, the second largest lake in Florida. The St. Johns River borders 3 1?2 miles of the forest and provides a wealth of ecologically valuable communities as well as river-based recreation. The surrounding landscape of the forest contributes to water resource protection of the Lake George watershed and aquifer recharge. Lake George State Forest is also part of an extensive wildlife corridor that provides habitat and roaming area vital to the survival of the Florida black bear population in the area.
