Hilochee Wildlife Management Area

Hilochee Wildlife Management Area is a protected landscape in central Florida’s Green Swamp, spanning 6,093 acres in Lake and Polk counties. Managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it includes trails, hunts, and a wildlife passageway connecting habitat split by Interstate 4. The area preserves scrub, sandhill, and pitcher plant habitat, while also reflecting extensive human alteration. Parts were drained for cattle grazing, mined, logged, crossed by roads, used for citrus groves, converted to slash pine plantations, and even developed as a go-kart track. Restoration has sought to reverse some of that damage through hydrologic repair and prescribed burning, highlighting the area’s broader conservation importance in Florida.

Florida · United States