USFWS · Florida

Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge

The Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located in four separated areas on the Lake Wales Ridge east of US 27 between Davenport and Sebring in Florida. The 1,194 acre (4.8 km2) refuge was established in 1990, to protect a host of plants and animals. It is also the first to be designated primarily for the preservation of endangered plants, and is not open to the general public. It contains a high proportion of remaining Florida scrub habitat. It is administered as part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Wildlife Refuge1,825 acresUSFWSFL
Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by Bill Lea, in the public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StateFlorida
Size1,825 acres
FWS regionRegion 4
Center point27.51° N, 81.41° W
Night skySome glow on the horizon (Black Marble reading 69)

Boundary map

18 outlines

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge60°70°80°90°January: 2.42 inches of precipitationFebruary: 2.01 inches of precipitationMarch: 2.61 inches of precipitationApril: 2.63 inches of precipitationMay: 3.86 inches of precipitationJune: 9.24 inches of precipitationJuly: 7.41 inches of precipitationAugust: 7.56 inches of precipitationSeptember: 7.45 inches of precipitationOctober: 3.26 inches of precipitationNovember: 2.16 inches of precipitationDecember: 2.07 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 61.1°F averageFebruary: 64.2°F averageMarch: 67.7°F averageApril: 72.6°F averageMay: 77.8°F averageJune: 81.3°F averageJuly: 82.4°F averageAugust: 82.8°F averageSeptember: 81.2°F averageOctober: 76.1°F averageNovember: 68.9°F averageDecember: 64.2°F average0 in2 in4 in6 in8 in10 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Avon Park 2 W, 9 miles from the center point at 154 feet, station USC00080369 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 53 inches a year.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Register listings within 15 miles · 69 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for Florida

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

  • Florida Lighthouse Trail
    Thomas W. Taylor and Chris Belcher, 2020
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Moon South Florida & the Keys Road Trip
    Jason Ferguson, 2019
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Best Tent Camping: Florida
    Johnny Molloy, 2016
    Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge?

1,825 acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in?

Florida.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 27.515° N, 81.408° W. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Are there historic places near Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge?

The National Register has 69 listings within 15 miles, including Singing Tower, Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Florida Southern College, Annie Pfeiffer Chapel.

Source: Register Atlas

Sources

  • Boundary, name: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge boundary layer.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Acreage: geodesic area of the published polygon. The agency’s official acreage can differ where the boundary includes water, easements or inholdings.
  • Photograph: the image Wikidata records for this refuge (Q6478394), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.