For hikers itching for a walk in the woods, Orange County has new outdoor spaces to explore.
The 241-acre Ken Bosserman Econlockhatchee River Preserve opened to the public for the first time in December, offering area residents new riverfront land to explore. Follow the fire trail on a mile-long hiking trail that winds through wet hardwood forest and Hydrick’s Hammock, stopping along the river for beautiful views.
The preserve is named after the founder of Friends of the Economist, a developer and conservationist who believed strongly in protecting rivers.
Bosserman, who died in 2006, told the Orlando Sentinel, “When you see a river, you fall in love with it.” “I’ve yet to see anyone go out and come back and say, ‘I want to build a house over there.'”
There was once a house on a piece of land that is now a protected area.
“The people who lived there had houses on stilts that flooded many times and became uninhabitable. They couldn’t live there anymore because it’s in a flood plain,” said Andrew Bray, environmental program supervisor for the Orange County Green Places Program. “We purchased that land and all the land along the river to help protect and mitigate the floodplain.”
Because the Econ River drains into the St. Johns River, it is especially important to protect all areas from worsening water quality and flood impacts.
The parcels of land that now make up the preserve were purchased through the Orange County Green Places Program, which stands for Park Land Acquisition for Conservation and Environmental Protection.
In 2021, Orange County commissioners approved setting aside $100 million to purchase green land to protect the environment. The money was used to support the county’s goal of increasing its conservation land from 23,000 acres to 46,000 acres by 2030.
Bray said current acreage is approaching 27,000.
“We have been working on land purchases across the county. We are prioritizing wildlife corridors, water protection, habitat conservation, critical habitat and rare habitat,” he said. “We’ve bought half-acre properties, we’ve bought hundreds of acres, and if it’s valuable property and provides an important connection, we’ll work with the landowner to try to buy it.”
The new riverfront preserve will help connect the Econ River corridor to the Econlockhatchee Sandhills Preserve in Orange County to the north.
From the trailhead, we follow the blue blaze for a short distance through a shady forest, across a clearing under power lines, and back into the trees. After about 400 meters, the trail widens out into a grassy field where it meets up with the start of a glowing orange loop trail.
Ride in a scenic Heidrick hammock and find where the orange trail meets the short yellow loop. From there, you will enter a wetland area where the knees of cypress trees begin to poke out of the ground. After heavy rain, sections of the trail closest to the river may be wet.
The best views of the Econ River appear on the west side of the orange loop. Going clockwise will get you earlier in the hike, going counter-clockwise will make it slower. Thoughtfully placed benches allow visitors to stop, take in the view, and reflect.
It’s a great place for a morning walk or an afternoon out, and it’s also a conservation victory in the ongoing effort to protect wild Florida.
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If you go
The Ken Bosserman Econlockhatchee Preserve is located at 14801 Lake Pickett Road in Orlando and is open from sunrise to sunset every day. Leashed pets are permitted. For more information, visit orangecountyfl.net.
