The Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve

Beautiful, massive preserved chock full of wildlife! We didn't do the whole loop due to the heat and a relatives knee issues, but we still got 2 miles of walking in. I got a new bird that I had never seen before, the rare Bachman's Sparrow :)

Amazing visit. Went at about 9:30am. Saw two bucks. Not busy, serene! Easy trail for kids there's 4 options of lengths. We started white then went to red for the lookout and back to the white trail.

My visit was truly exceptional, starting with the beautifully maintained trails. Whether you choose the short 0.5-mile loop or tackle the longer 6.1-mile Yellow Trail, the paths are wide, well-marked, and kept up meticulously by The Nature Conservancy, making for easy and enjoyable hiking. The variety of landscapes—from restored wetlands and longleaf pine forests to scenic overlooks of the undeveloped Lake Russell—provides a constantly changing, gorgeous backdrop for your adventure. And for an added comfort, the facilities are sparkling clean! The Conservation Learning Center at the trailhead is a fantastic welcome area, complete with informative displays and, yes, clean, comfortable bathrooms that rival those of any high-end park. This attention to visitor comfort ensures you can focus entirely on enjoying the real star of the show: nature.

I've known about this place for a long time and finally had a chance to visit yesterday! Well worth a look around & pretty self-directed. Parking and admission is free, use a QR code to sign in and tell them which car is yours and how many in your party, I guess so they can come find you if you overstay. There's a little unmanned visitor room, nice bathrooms w/ a bottle fill water fountain, and good signage throughout. The trails are choose your own adventure, varying loops from a half mile, around a mile, around 2 miles, and the full outer loop of over 5 miles. I figure, with walking out to Lake Russell plus the full loop, it was 5.5 miles total. There are trees, but it's mostly open, use sunscreen, bring water, and a hat! I wore a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, a hydration backpack, and a cooling towel, plus my proper waterproof hiking boots, which came in handy at one point when a boardwalk stopped a bit short of the puddle. If you do the big loop, there's a shaded picnic area at the halfway mark, perfect for a rest, snack, and to reapply sunscreen/bug repellent. I met one employee out on the loop (he was in a cart) and then had a nice chat with him as we were both leaving. Got rained on a bit (not unwelcome!) so overall a bit soggy by the end, but had a towel in the car to sit on and sandals to change into. The only other people I saw my whole time there was a family that looked like they just walked out to Lake Russell and back (one using a rolling walker!) which is a great way to get a taste of the property without the big hike that I did.

This is probably the quietest place I’ve ever visited! Aside from the birds this reserve is quintessentially a perfect place to capture your thoughts, relax, have an easy stroll, breathe, and get some exercise. We walked three of the well marked trails and will go back to do the yellow trail. They have something called “workkamper” where people can camp there with their RV in exchange for doing work on the preserve. We saw 3 RVs. They also have a conference room so doing an offsite team building exercise here is a great option. There are no fees to walk around and spend time here. We walked to the lake and saw beautiful bald cypress trees. Be careful of the any mounds as their bite is lasting. I would recommend bringing bug spray as the climate gets more humid.