Lake Willoughby runs five miles through Westmore, a glacial trench barely a mile wide with Mount Pisgah on one side and Mount Hor on the other. The water drops more than 300 feet, deep enough to stay cold into July. That squeeze between two cliff walls is the Willoughby Gap, a National Natural Landmark since 1967, and the reason people keep reaching for Norway to describe it. The free public beach at the north end is the easy version: park, walk in, swim. Port-a-lets, no lifeguard. The south end holds the trailhead for Mount Pisgah's south trail, roughly four miles round trip, with Pulpit Rock about a mile up on a ledge hundreds of feet directly above the water. Services are thin, so stock up at the Willoughby Lake Store on Route 5A, open early and closing by evening. Foliage peaks in late September, ahead of most of Vermont, and the lots fill by mid morning.
Highlights
Glacial lake between cliffsNo fee, free parkingColor peaks late SepMud season closures in springNorth beach swimmingFalcon cliff closures Mar to Aug
Everglades National Park protects 1.5 million acres of subtropical wilderness at the southern tip of Florida, the largest such ecosystem in North America. It is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to manatees, wading birds, and the elusive Florida panther. Visitors can walk the famed Anhinga Trail, paddle mangrove waterways, or take an airboat-free ranger tour through the 'River of Grass.'
Located almost 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, Dry Tortugas National Park is a remote cluster of seven small islands reachable only by ferry or seaplane. Its centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, one of the nation's largest 19th-century masonry forts, surrounded by crystal-clear waters renowned for snorkeling, coral reefs, and shipwrecks. The park is also a haven for nesting seabirds and migratory birds.
One of Florida's oldest and largest state parks, Myakka spreads 37,000 acres of wetlands, prairies, and hammocks along the slow Myakka River east of Sarasota. Climb the canopy walkway, the first public treetop trail in North America, suspended 25 feet up with a tower above the oaks, then board one of the giant airboats for an alligator-lined cruise on Upper Myakka Lake. Winter brings cooler air and crowds of wading birds.
