The Central Florida prairies are fascinating places, rich with wildlife. You’ll see flocks of wild turkeys and sandhill cranes, and that unusual looking falcon, the caracara.
Protecting more than 4,000 acres and purchased in 1997 as part of the Polk County Environmental Lands Program, SUMICA opened almost a decade later after a nice trailhead was built along SR 60 east of Hesperides.
Why the name in capital letters? It stands for Societe Universelle Mining Industrie, Commerce et Agriculture, a French organization that had timber rights to the land.
The town of SUMICA, established in 1917, thrived on lumbering and turpentine. In 1927, after the pines were harvested, the town vanished, with remnants forming a ghost town today.
A portion of the hiking trail follows an old railroad bed raised above the surrounding wet prairies. Including equestrian trails, the 6.2 mile trail system also loops out to Lake Walk-in-Water.
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Overview
Location: Indian Lakes Estates
Length: Up to 5.8 miles
Trailhead: 27.856592, -81.375369
Address: 12993 SR 60, Lake Wales
Fees: Free
Restroom: None
Land Manager: Polk County Environmental Lands
Phone: 863-534-7377
Maps should be available at the trailhead.
Directions
Drive east along SR 60 from Lake Wales past the turnoffs for Lake Kissimmee State Park and Lake Walk-in-Water Road. The SUMICA trailhead is 5 miles ahead on your right.
Hike
Starting at the trailhead kiosk, walk down the entrance trail through a lush saw palmetto prairie to the T intersection where trails diverge.
The multi-use trail system heads towards the right to Lake Walk-in-Water. Turn left and follow the old railroad bed east.
There are benches for resting, and occasional stands of moss-draped live oaks providing shade, but it is mostly an open hike.
Prairie, pine flatwoods, and cypress domes are to your right, and prairie and marshes are to your left. Watch for small patches of open water where you might see wading birds and alligators.
After 1.1 miles is a sign pointing to a boardwalk with a covered shelter at the end.
This observation platform overlooks a broad prairie edged with sawgrass marsh, and a large lake that recedes from view in times of drought.
It sits right at the end of the cypress strand you paralleled along your walk here. Bring your binoculars, as it’s a fine place for birding—the sounds of warblers fill the air, and herons pick through the prairie shallows.
The observation shelter is a highlight of this natural area, so an easy walk is to turn around here for a 2.2-mile round-trip.
But the hiking trail does continue another 1.5 miles, where it makes a loop through a seasonally damp area near Lake Walk-in-Water and connects with the multi-use trail.
You can hike out to the loop for a round-trip of 5.3 miles back to the parking area. Using the multiuse trail, make a longer, wetter loop of 5.8 miles.
Explore More!
Slideshow
See our photos from this hike
Nearby Adventures
Lake Wales Ridge Big Bay Trail Traversing sandhill, pine flatwoods, and bayhead habitats, the Big Bay Trail offers a one mile loop with an optional 1.7-mile spur trail featuring two primitive campsites. 
Lake Wales Ridge Scrub Jay Loop An easy loop trail traverses scattered prairie ponds within a dry ecosystem suitable for one of the state’s most endangered birds, the Florida scrub-jay. 
Florida Trail, KICCO North 3.4 miles. Take in a panorama of marshes busy with birds in the Kissimmee River floodplain at River Ranch along the northernmost reaches of the Kissimmee River
Florida Trail, KICCO South 10.1 miles. Ancient live oaks break up the expanse of cattle pastures and prairies along the Florida Trail adjoining the Kissimmee River in KICCO
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