One of a few remaining public spaces in Orange County where visitors can step into Nature.
NOTE: Horizon West Regional Park is currently closed to vehicle access. Construction of its new roads and facilities has begun, and heavy equipment is currently reshaping the terrain. The bulldozed piles of sand in the center of the park are beginning to look like the roads and retention ponds they’ll eventually become.
It’s too soon for anyone to know when the park will re-open. My best guess is late 2025 or early 2026. One new thing has happened, though: The park, after nearly ten years, finally has an address! It’s 4715 Hamlin Groves Trail, Winter Garden, FL.
To read the informational article I contributed to the 2024 issue of Living in Horizon West magazine, please click / tap here.
I discovered Horizon West Regional Park late in 2021, after moving to southwest Orange County. I’m grateful to have a hiking destination so close to home... so grateful, in fact, that I do volunteer trail maintenance there in my spare time.
Horizon West Regional Park, at over 200 acres, is one of Orange County’s largest “natural spaces”. Soon, some of those 200 acres will have urban park facilities, such as restrooms, a playground, and picnic shelters. These facilities will be a family-friendly oasis in the midst of the wild and natural acreage.
I created the Google Map displayed here to serve as a guide for those who are anticipating the re-opening of the park. It shows the locations of the Phase 1A facilities presently under construction. Orange County Parks and Recreation’s website states that Phase 1A will be completed in 2025, but early 2026 is probably more realistic.
On this map, the Phase 1A amenities are represented by colored symbols; tentative Phase 1B facilities are displayed in gray. Orange County Parks and Recreation exhibited a concept drawing with planned amenities for Phase 1B at the park’s groundbreaking ceremony in Feb. 2024. Since then, the list of future amenities has been trimmed. Unforeseen cost increases, driven by inflation, have caused issues for builders everywhere—so it’s safe to assume that funds intended for Phase 1B had to be used to meet Phase 1A cost overruns. Parks and Recreation is not expected to let bids for Phase 1B until after the park re-opens.
Wetlands and Vegetation of Horizon West Regional Park:
There are many natural wetlands in Horizon West Regional Park. The main body of water is Lake Hartley, at the southern boundary of the park. That lake has two elongated “arms” (basically small finger lakes) which lie west of the main lake. A 2-mile loop trail follows the shoreline of Lake Hartley, its “arms”, and a couple of nearby ponds.
The park has several ponds north of Lake Hartley. The circular “south pond” just east of the center arm of Lake Hartley offers the best scenic views in the park—better views than the lake, whose horizon line is cluttered with roofs of buildings to the south. Another plus for the south pond is that its water level follows the lake, and fluctuates gradually.
The ponds farther north, closer to the park entrance, receive no water from Lake Hartley and are therefore quite shallow, except after very wet and stormy summer seasons.
There’s a fair amount of biodiversity in the park’s plant species, though many of the species are non-native to Florida, and a few are considered invasive — including some of the vines that climb the native oak and pine trees, and compete with the tree foliage for sunlight.
Just about every Florida-native oak tree species is found within Horizon West Regional Park. Sand pine trees are the dominant conifer species in the northwest corner of the park. Elsewhere, there are fewer numbers of longleaf pines and slash pines.
The northeast quarter of the park features a dense, 15-acre forest inhabited mostly by old-growth bluejack oak trees. These surround a shallow (normally dry) pond, and a smaller but deeper “sinkhole” pond. There’s a dense understory of saw palmettos surrounding both ponds, which will defy the boldest of bushwhackers. I ought to know. Take my word for it, and stay on the trail!
Farther west of the dry pond, there are fewer palmettos. The oak canopy is so dense, in fact, that much of the understory lacks vegetation. One exception is wild liatris, which is often seen along the trail late in the year.
Aside from wildflowers, the most colorful shrubs in the park are American beautyberries. A number of these shrubs have been planted along sidewalks and in medians in Hamlin Town Center, outside the park, but beautyberries are more numerous within the park—especially in the “Beautyberry Trail” network.
Wildlife of Horizon West Regional Park:
The park’s animal life is surprisingly diverse, considering the habitat disruption caused by all the recent construction activity. Visitors hiking near the south trails occasionally see American alligators in the early morning and evening hours. After dark, I’ve spotted coyotes sneaking into the Hamlin Enclave neighborhood from the west side of the park.
As of yet, waterfowl isn’t plentiful at the ponds and the lake. Egrets and anhingas are the birds one normally sees there. In the park’s brushy natural wetlands, the balance is tilted in favor of predators. That may change in a couple of years, after the construction of the park’s seven artificial retention ponds.
The south pond and Lake Hartley are deep enough to support a permanent fish population. Long-term plans include a fishing pier at the shore of Lake Hartley, not far from a picnic shelter which is currently under construction nearby.
I’ve seen many bird species along the trail: Great horned owls, Florida red-tailed hawks, cardinals, coastal bluejays, tufted titmice, chipping sparrows, red-headed woodpeckers, mourning doves, Carolina chickadees, and an occasional Osceola wild turkey hen.
There’s a few Eastern gray squirrels in the oak trees, and a small population of Eastern cottontail rabbits, which you’re less likely to see and more likely to hear rustling in briar patches — though I’ve managed to spot them near the northwest pond, munching on the grass along the trail.
As Horizon West Regional Park’s development gradually progresses, the number of visitors will increase, putting pressure on reptiles such as gopher tortoises and alligators. Smaller critters, such as squirrels, rabbits, and songbirds, will become more numerous as a result. Eventually, more waterfowl will begin to hang out there as well.
It’s worth remembering that Horizon West Regional Park is unique among Orange County’s urban parks: It will soon have paved drives, sidewalks, modern restrooms, picnic shelters, and safe playgrounds—but all those modern facilities will adjoin many acres of natural space with narrow unpaved trails, as one expects to see in a rural county park.
There are dozens of gopher tortoise burrows in the park, mainly in open spaces. Aside from the alligators around Lake Hartley, gopher tortoises are the largest reptile species in Horizon West, and the one most likely to be seen within the park during the warm season. Florida softshell turtles are occasionally spotted near the lake and the ponds, too.
Gopher tortoises are shy, and tend to be spooked easily. Visitors should avoid approaching them closely — and also avoid getting too close to the entrances of their burrows, since the entrances are vulnerable to collapsing in the sandy soil.
The other reptiles one sometimes sees on a dirt trail are snakes. The ones I see crossing a path are usually Eastern racers, which are harmless. However, there are also Eastern coral snakes and a smaller number of Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes.
The diamondbacks are the least numerous (In over 3 years of regular visits, I’ve only had one encounter), but they’re also the most dangerous: Diamondbacks do not always rattle when approached. On the day of my encounter, I ventured off-trail and nearly stepped on a coiled-up rattler! Luckily, it wasn’t perturbed. It was just waiting for its next meal to show up. But I still never hope to step on a diamondback in the future! At least, I now have a clue why the park’s rabbit population is small: They’re a favorite food source for diamondbacks, as well as owls and hawks.
Coral snakes, though highly venomous, won’t bother you if you don’t bother them. The last known fatal coral snake bite happened in Lee County, in 2006 (Read details here; the story has the makings of a Darwin Award). In any public natural space, visitors do well if they use common sense: Stay on the trail, and dress properly when exploring unpaved trails (Hiking shoes, not flip-flops). You can safely walk the trails with dogs, if they’re on a leash short enough to keep them on the trail and away from other animals.
A Google Map titled “Horizon West Regional Park Trails” is displayed below. Until I became familiar with the layout of the park, I found it handy to use it as a navigation guide on my mobile phone.
There are about 7 miles of un-paved trails. Although the park’s trails were in use for years before the park closed for construction in 2024, Orange County Parks and Recreation never posted a park guide or trail map on its website. Visitors have appreciated having the map on this page as a navigation resource. The narrower pathways in the north half of the park are marked with pink blaze tape tied to stakes, at regular intervals along the trail.
Other marker ribbon colors (usually attached to stakes) are as follows:
🔴 Red fabric ribbons mark the locations of gopher tortoise burrows.
🟠 Orange fabric ribbons mark flowering lantana shrubs, as well as places where orange butterfly milkweed grows during the summer. In the field, the ribbons can be seen in the orange shaded areas / dots on the map.
🟣 Purple fabric ribbons mark the locations of American beautyberry shrubs; they’re located near the purple shaded areas / dots on the map.
🟢 Green fabric ribbons mark the locations of sand pine seedlings, other trees, and prickly pear cactus.
The trail map has a layer which indicates the location of the facilities under construction, such as the two parking lots, the playground, and the restrooms. The park’s master plan divided future development plans into several phases, but it’s basically just a guide. More public funding for the park will be needed before additional amenities can be planned and built.
Soon after creating the trail map, I began sharing the web link on local Facebook groups, in the hope that Horizon West Regional Park would become known to fellow hikers and nature lovers. I’m happy to report that visits by hikers, cyclists, families, and dog walkers increased steadily through until the park closed for construction.
Additionally, over the past few years, the park has been used as a meeting place for church Easter egg hunters, Halloween partiers, a troupe of live-action role-players (LARPers), a large meetup of one-wheel board riders, and other events. Family photographers and amateur videographers have used the scenic areas for their shoots. Horizon West’s residents have certainly exhibited their creative side in the absence of any park facilities! I expect them to enjoy the park even more after those facilities are built.
Some of the pre-existing unpaved trails, which aren’t shown on the construction map, may be officially adopted after the park re-opens after construction. If they are, it may take time for the process to unfold. Whenever a new park facility is opened, Orange County Parks and Recreation must update their website, allocate manpower and resources, and take care of other details behind the scenes.
However, hikers and cyclists who visited the park prior to 2024 needn’t worry that all their favorite unpaved trails are lost! It’s true that some popular walking routes were erased by bulldozers. The 2024 hurricane season blew trees down across other trails. However, the majority of the trail network remains in place. If Orange County lacks the resources to maintain the pre-existing “natural” trails, volunteers can pick up the slack.
Although the park has been a natural space for many years, the space hasn’t been maintained. In Florida, proper maintenance involves controlling the undergrowth with controlled burns or mechanical pruning. As I walk the trails, I clip out the wild grape vines and briers which criss-cross the pathways and trip unwary hikers. This helps re-establish native grasses, which have struggled from competition with invasive vines for many years.
After the park re-opens, I hope to help coordinate volunteer restoration efforts, since public funding for large-scale restoration won’t happen in the short term. It will, in fact, probably take decades to secure public funding to implement the latter phases of Horizon West Regional Park’s master plan.