Where Progress Meets Preservation Imagine a 200-mile channel across Florida, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. The Cross Florida Barge Canal would have been like a moat, separating people and wildlife on either side. This . . . — — Map (db m166700) HM
The Price of Progress Picture massive barges, tugboats and trawlers clogging the bay. This was to be the west end of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, where the water enters the Gulf of Mexico. The canal would have impacted Florida's fresh and . . . — — Map (db m167343) HM
A Man-made Lake Felburn Park was once a mine. Workers mined dolomite rock, which was added to soil on farms. As they dug, miners hit a reservoir of groundwater, and the spring water started to fill the pit. They pumped out the water as it . . . — — Map (db m167344) HM
Bisecting a State, Bisecting a River Inglis Island sits at the center of the Withlacoochee River, Lake Rousseau, and the Cross Florida Barge Canal. From here you can see where the canal bisected the river. Look for an earth and concrete berm on . . . — — Map (db m167499) HM
Unintended Consequences In the 1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cut through and plugged the Withlacoochee River to make way for the Cross Florida Barge Canal. Blocking the river entirely would have devastated downstream ecosystems. The . . . — — Map (db m167893) HM
A Stairway to the Top of the Canal Lake Rousseau sits almost 30 feet above the western edge of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. How do you move a barge up 30 feet? You build a lock. Think of a lock like water stairs. A barge enters the lock . . . — — Map (db m167500) HM
Changing the Face of Florida At the end of the 19th century, prospectors and entrepreneurs flocked to Dunnellon, 10 miles east of here. They came to mine phosphate, a valuable ingredient in fertilizer. In just five years, Dunnellon transformed . . . — — Map (db m167501) HM
A Rocky Past Today, the old railroad bed beneath the Dunnellon Trail carries walkers and bicyclists. In the late 1800s, it moved train cars laden with phosphate rock. Prospectors discovered the valuable mineral here in 1889, sparking an . . . — — Map (db m167502) HM
Human Hands Changed the Land A mile east of here, you will encounter some rugged terrain. It's left over from a ship canal dug during the Great Depression. Some 8,000 men shoveled tons of sand and dirt onto mule-drawn carts and trucks, swatting . . . — — Map (db m167503) HM
Welcome to the Summit Ross Prairie is a wetland surrounded by a high-and-dry ecosystem known as sandhills. The plants and animals here live on ancient sand dunes, leftovers from when the ocean was higher. This area's topography presented a . . . — — Map (db m167505) HM
High and Dry in the Sandhill Look around — do you notice sandy soil and pine trees? This habitat is called sandhill. It grows on ancient sand dunes left behind when sea levels were higher. Sandhill is now exceptionally rare. It's ideal . . . — — Map (db m167504) HM
Transforming the Land — Twice! The land you're standing on was once part of a major engineering feat. Men and machines toiled to move about 13 million cubic yards of dirt. They were building the sea level Atlantic-Gulf Ship Canal. The men . . . — — Map (db m166699) HM
From Separation to Connection High above Interstate 75, this landbridge was the first of its kind in the country. The land it sits on was originally intended to be part of a massive canal across Florida. The canal would have split the state in . . . — — Map (db m166698) HM
Landfill Legacy Nearby is a landfill that was used during the construction of a massive canal across Florida. Engineers and workers operating huge machines dug about a third of the canal in the 1960s. The project was never completed, but its . . . — — Map (db m166776) HM
From the Gulf — to Golf Imagine playing disc golf surrounded by bulldozers and workers digging! Just north of here, the Ocala Greenway Disc Golf Course sits within the remnants of the Atlantic-Gulf Ship Canal. By 1936, workers had . . . — — Map (db m167506) HM
Imagine This Spot Underwater If the Cross Florida Barge Canal had been built in the 1960s as planned, Marshall Swamp would be 13 feet underwater. The swamp sat in the path of the Dosh Reservoir. Plans called for flooding 20 miles of the . . . — — Map (db m167900) HM
History Hidden in the Trees Across the river, concealed by trees, lies a relic from a largely forgotten episode in Florida's history. The Eureka Lock and Dam were built in the 1960s but never used. They were part of the Cross Florida Barge . . . — — Map (db m167896) HM
People Made this Landscape You're at the north shore of Rodman Reservoir, also known as Lake Ocklawaha. This is the most popular access point for paddling, fishing and sightseeing. The history of this human-made landscape goes back centuries to . . . — — Map (db m167897) HM
A Man and a Dam The Senator George Kirkpatrick Dam has been a site of conflict for decades — even before its foundations were built. The dam and the Rodman Reservoir were built in the 1960s as part of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. . . . — — Map (db m167898) HM
"God Was Good to this Country" On a rainy February day in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson spoke to a crowd near here. "God was good to this country… He gave us great estuaries, natural locales for harbors, but he left it to us to dredge them out . . . — — Map (db m167899) HM
