Lake George State Forest is a 21,176-acre protected landscape in northwestern Volusia County, Florida, named for Lake George and shaped by the St. Johns River and wetlands important to aquifer recharge. Its pine flatwoods, cypress, and hardwood hammocks support diverse wildlife, including Florida black bears, bald eagles, sandhill cranes, and gopher tortoises. Native American peoples, including the Timucua, lived here long before European settlement and left shell middens such as the Bluffton Mound and Midden. Later used for timber, naval stores, grazing, and hunting, the land was heavily logged, replanted, and restored again after devastating 1998 wildfires burned nearly half the forest.