Sandhill habitat, with its sandy soil and pine trees, grows on ancient sand dunes left behind when sea levels were higher and is now exceptionally rare because it is ideal for building houses, shopping centers, and golf courses. In the 1930s, the high elevation of this central ridge challenged engineers building a canal across Florida, forcing workers either to dig deeply into the ground or to design locks to carry barges up and over it like stair steps, and evidence of the original canal can still be seen on the trails. This dry habitat supports scattered longleaf pine and turkey oak, prairie-like grasses that need fire to prevent hardwood takeover, and wildlife including gopher tortoise, southern fox squirrel, indigo snake, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and eastern diamondback rattlesnake.