Fifty percent of the tree species found in the United States grow naturally in Florida, and many of these are found in Ocala National Forest, where sandpines, oaks, sweet gums and palmettos grow. Another popular canoeing area is Wekiwa Springs State Park, which also boasts horse and hiking trails, and animal residents include the bald eagle and the black bear. Not to be outdone, Lake County’s Alexander Springs pumps 80 million gallons a day, and is the centerpiece of the Alexander Springs Recreation Area. The Ocala area is thoroughbred country: roughly 1,000 horse farms and training centers dot the county seat and its surrounding region.

The Appleton Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of African, Asian and pre-Columbian painting and sculpture. The Austin Carriage Museum in Weirsdale recalls a more refined mode of transport.

Kissimmee knows a thing or two about horses as well. The old days are still celebrated with a rodeo every Friday night, and attractions and museums are devoted to the cowboys of yesteryear (see Focus).

The centerpiece of Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales is a carillon (bell) tower built on Iron Mountain, peninsular Florida’s highest point. An exotic garden is the home for more than 100 wild bird species. Established in 1936, Cypress Gardens—calling itself Florida’s first theme park—is also a great floral attraction, with acres of flower beds, Southern belles and a water-skiing show. Polk City’s Fantasy of Flight displays vintage aircraft.

Near Florida’s great lake, Okeechobee, Highlands Hammock State Park is home to the endangered scrub jay, alligators, deer and the bald eagle in cypress swamps and hardwood hammocks. Birders will not want to miss the Florida Audubon Center for Birds of Prey at Audubon House in Maitland.

Several small towns clustered around Orlando form a window into the area’s historic past. Mount Dora is a must-see for antiquers, a hamlet where Victorian mansions and quiet streets run into a varied selection of eclectic small shops. Eatonville, north of Orlando, was America’s first town governed by African-Americans. The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, named for Eatonville’s favorite daughter, features a rotating series of exhibits by African-American artists. In Winter Park, the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art has the world’s largest collection of Tiffany works, and specializes in pottery, furniture, and stained glass. Other area galleries include the Orlando Museum of Art and the Polk Museum of Art.