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Green Swamp
Wilderness Preserve
(On following pages, see individual profiles for East
Tract, Little Withlacoochee Tract and West Tract.)
Size
110,000 acres
Location
Four-corner area of Lake, Pasco, Polk and Sumter
counties, east of Dade City
About the Property
Exploring the Green Swamp Wilderness
Preserve, one can easily imagine the giant cypress
trees that once dominated the landscape. Logged
earlier this century, many of the old growth
cypress had lived for 2,000 years. Despite the
logging and other human impacts, the preserve
is recovering well. It is an intact ecosystem that
attracts many types of wildlife. Wading bird
rookeries are used by wood storks, a variety of
egrets and white ibis. Threatened Florida scrubjays
inhabit scrub and scrubby flatwoods. A small
population of insect-eating hooded pitcher plants
marks one of the southernmost occurrences of
these rare plants in the United States.
The preserve is divided into three management
units: Green Swamp–East Tract — 67,670 acres;
Green Swamp–West Tract — 37,350 acres; and
Little Withlacoochee Tract — 4,446 acres.
Nearly 36 miles of the Withlacoochee River’s
110-mile length are protected as an Outstanding
Florida Water within the Green Swamp Wilderness
Preserve.
As a plateau above surrounding areas, the Green
Swamp region is an important physiographic
feature of Florida. Its 560,000 acres of wetlands,
flatlands and low ridges are bounded by
prominent sandy ridgelines. Rainwater drains
across the surface to create the headwaters of four
major rivers: the Withlacoochee, the Ocklawaha,
the Hillsborough and the Peace.
Rainwater also trickles down through the soil to
replenish the Floridan aquifer, the primary source
of drinking water for most Floridians. Because the
Green Swamp region is elevated above outlying
areas and the underground aquifer rises very
close to the land surface, the region functions as
the pressure head for the aquifer. Protecting the
Green Swamp is vital to protecting the quality and
quantity of Florida’s water supply. Recognizing
the statewide significance of this area, the state
of Florida in 1974 designated 322,000 acres of the
Green Swamp region as an Area of Critical State
Concern.
Visitors can still find evidence of Cumpressco,
a town that served the needs of lumbermen
working the swamp. Historic structures from this
ghost town and other locations in the preserve
were moved to the Pioneer Museum in Dade City.
In 1976, the Cummer Sons Cypress Company
sold what is now Green Swamp–West Tract to
the Agri-Timber Corporation. Under Agri-Timber
management, lands were leased for hunting and
cattle; a sawmill and mulching plant supported a
timbering operation; and there were sand, peat
and limerock mines. The District purchased the
Agri-Timber property in phases between 1984 and
1992.
Recreational Opportunities
On following pages, see individual profiles for
East Tract, Little Withlacoochee Tract and West
Tract.
Nearby Recreation Lands
• District’s Upper Hillsborough property
• Florida National Scenic Trail
• Pasco County — Withlacoochee River Park
• Richloam Tract of the Withlacoochee State
Forest
• Van Fleet State Trail
Recreation Guide to Southwest Florida Water Management District Lands
44