I recently discovered Circle B Bar Reserve through a podcast and decided to check it out. It’s a 1200 acre nature preserve in central Florida, just west of Orlando. Within a week of finding out that this place was so close to home, we heard about an event in Lakeland that we needed to attend, so I took the opportunity to plan a visit to the reserve while we were in the area. I certainly was unprepared for the heat, the mosquitoes, and the terror that lay ahead. I just knew that exploring this place it was on my baby bucket list.
We arrived on Aug 17th around 930 AM and began our hike with the most incredible bird sounds overhead. This wasn’t the traditional cardinal singsong that I hear in my back yard every day. This was something different— almost magical. Although I couldn’t visually see what was making this fascinating sound, I was satisfied with my sense of hearing getting to experience something unfamiliar.
As we walked along, we began to follow signs that would lead us to a lake. We were maybe a quarter mile deep into the trail when I heard this deep, guttural growl. I almost couldn’t believe my ears. I stopped dead in my tracks and listened again. Yep, no mistaking that I was hearing deep growling. I felt as if a large lion was warning me not to take a step further. As my family caught up with me (I was hiking ahead of them), I shushed them and asked them to take a listen too. When they heard that growl, everyone’s eyes grew wide. We had no idea what type of predator we were dealing with but we knew not to mess with the warnings of nature.
I began walking on the path again, this time away from the lake and back toward the car. But as we walked I imaged that the growling would become more and more distant. And boy, was I wrong. 😬 The growling was persistent and just as loud as when we first heard it no matter how far or fast we walked. It was almost like there was no escaping this unseen monster, and I was certain that a panther or wild boar was going to jump out from the tall grass and devour my entire family at any minute.
Luckily we made it back to where our car was parked without harm. Once in the parking lot we got to visit with a few friendly squirrels (who I swear were super tiny, almost chipmunk size) and a sweet little dove. These interactions with nature were very soothing for our nervous systems after having the scare of our lives while out on the trails.
Next, we visited the visitors center, a refreshing indoor escape with air conditioning, no mosquitoes, and—most importantly—no growling! I absolutely loved it; it felt like a wildlife museum, filled with fascinating facts and interactive learning stations about Florida’s natural wildlife. One station featured animal sounds—when you pressed a button next to an animal’s photo, a speaker overhead played the sound it makes in the wild. When my daughter pressed the alligator button, we all exchanged glances. There was no mistaking that deep growl—it was the very same sound we had fled from earlier in the day. We couldn’t believe we’d been running from alligators!
From the maps available in the nature center, we discovered that the path we were previously exploring led directly into a marsh. Had I realized the trail was taking us through Florida wetlands, there’s no way I would have put my family in harm’s way, turning us all into potential gator bait!
At the end of our adventure filled morning, my daughter said it was her favorite adventure (and we’ve been adventuring quite a bit lately). While we didn’t visually see much today, we were immersed in nature in ways that we will never forget — and that was plenty of adventure for me!
Also what a blessing to have checked Circle B Bar Reserve off my bliss list ☺️☺️🐊
